by Riley Hlatshwayo
May 30th, 2025
‘I used to see her as an enemy…’ is a line that resonates throughout the strikingly arresting eleven minutes of Loic Niyonkuru’s documentary short film, Before 16. It comes from his subject, Elizabeth, who has to reckon with the pangs of the past if she is to forge a future with her daughter.
Described by the director as a ‘story of healing, understanding, for the timeless bond between mother and daughter, after a life-altering experience has tested their bond’, the film tells the story of Elizabeth—who became a mother at the young age of 16 after being sexually assaulted—and her daughter as they navigate the precarious landscapes of existing together while coming to terms with this shared trauma.
Before 16 opens with images of Elizabeth’s daughter holding her mother’s hand. This quiet fragility in their grip is heightened only by the young girl’s voice as she narrates the beginning of her life story. The tone is haunting, her voice breathy and almost hesitant in her delivery as she relays the harshness of not just her upbringing, but the relationship she has with her mother. Niyonkuru’s short film is shot entirely in greyscale, a cinematic choice that adds to the sombre tone of the film and the subjects’ existence in this world.
The film uses alternating perspectives to give Elizabeth and her daughter space to have the poignant dialogue that has eluded them, both in real-time and across time and memory. As the audience is drawn into their defining moments and the physical distance between them, we witness a glimpse into Elizabeth’s quiet grief: the loss of her youth through trauma, and the silent moment when she sees herself in her daughter. A girl on the cusp of womanhood, full of promise, yet walking a path Elizabeth knows too well, one marked by both hope and looming threat. We also get to experience the weight of being a child of rape, of finding out about it elsewhere instead of one’s mother, and the mental health implications this placed upon her growing up.
While the minimal lighting, the lack of colour, and the shots that were selected to frame this story, provide a sense of entrapment—the ever-present cluster of shanties and shacks, the pathways between them, the train tracks and tunnels, and the doorway being the only source of light—Niyonkuru, who also served as cinematographer, doesn’t shy away from allowing Elizabeth and her daughter’s voices to show us that through their being together and pushing through, there will be a sense of healing for them. Together, they will find a way to move past the gruesome violations that have landed them in that position.
The opening scene is one of Elizabeth and her daughter, hands clasped together, standing over a blurred silhouette. The film ends just as it began—with the two women in an embrace. But this time, the location is made clear: they stand on a precipice, towering over their circumstances and the versions of themselves they were when they first began to shed the weight of their shared trauma. Elizabeth speaks in the background, professing her love to her daughter, an assurance that as long as they are together, they will overcome. There will be healing.
The short film from Burundi was selected for the 27th edition of the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, taking place in Johannesburg and Cape Town from the 19th to the 29th of June this year. Adding to the array of brilliant and thought-provoking films on the slate, Before 16 echoes the sentiments promised by the festival that this year’s selections will capture the beauty and chaos of real life, while highlighting the frightening reality of now.
Beautifully shot and tender in its portrayal of a young woman forced into motherhood before her time, and the subsequent mistakes she makes along the way, Niyonkuru’s documentary short film is a welcome addition to the many stories that dare to breach the conversation of sexual violence, inherited trauma, and the shifting relationships between mothers and their daughters.
Catch the film at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival: http://encounters.co.za/
Screening Schedule
22 June 2025 18:30 Ster-Kinekor V&A (Cape Town)
28 June 2025 15:30 Zone @ Rosebank (Johannesburg)
This review emanates from the Talent Press programme, an initiative of Talents Durban in collaboration with the Durban FilmMart Institute and FIPRESCI. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author (Tshi Malatji) and cannot be considered as constituting an official position of the organisers.
