Echoes of Exile: A Daughter’s Tribute to Lauretta Ngcobo
By Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rehim “And She Didn’t Die” is a poignant feature documentary directed by Kethiwe Ngcobo. The film delves into the life of South African writer and activist Lauretta Ngcobo, offering an intimate portrayal of her struggles and triumphs during the apartheid era. Through a blend of archival footage, dramatized scenes, and personal […]
Whisper in Smoke: Sex Workers, and War for Dignity
By: Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rehim In the cinema of protest, few voices dare to echo from the margins so defiantly. But Womxn: Working, the South African documentary directed by Shanelle Jewnarain, does not merely echo — it howls. At 67 minutes, this urgent and unflinching film does what too few works of art dare: it […]
Inside Encounters: A Conversation with Mandisa Zitha on 27 Years of Documenting Truth
By Alice Johnson Documentary films are often the quiet revolutionaries of cinema; less glitz, more grit. But in South Africa, one festival has built a powerful stage for this genre to thrive. The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, now in its 27th year, continues to set the bar for nonfiction storytelling on the continent. […]
NORMAL TO ME: A Tastement to The Power of Inclusion
Normal to Me is an engaging and heartwarming feature documentary that intimately explores the lives of individuals with special needs, all employed at the Joyce Chevalier Centre Protective Workshop, nestled in the picturesque seaside town of Fish Hoek, South Africa. More than a workplace, the centre becomes the heart of a story that gently, yet […]
Red Umbrellas and the Weight of Choice
A Reflection on Shanelle Jewnarain’s Documentary on Sex Work Activism in South Africa By: Alice Johnson Sex work remains criminalised under South Africa’s Sexual Offences Act of 1957 and the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977. These outdated laws continue to feed a cycle of stigma, systemic violence, and social exclusion, ensuring that sex workers are […]
Before 16 – Loic Niyonkuru’s film is a lament on inherited trauma
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 […]
Khartoum Review: A Mirror to Pain, Resistance, and Hope
Khartoum is a bold, experimental documentary directed by a collective of Sudanese and British filmmakers Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim “Snoopy” Ahmed, Timeea M. Ahmed, and Phil Cox. Set against the backdrop of the 2023 conflict in Sudan, the film follows five residents of Khartoum as they recount life before and during the war. Using […]
And She Didn’t Die: A Documentary from Memory
By:Tshi Malatji All images sourced from the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival “And She Didn’t Die” is not an objective and neutral media film that discursively balances accounts of Luaretta’s life. It is a discussion of memory between a daughter and her mother taking place through film. It is a personal film about political […]
The Wait – Review by Bob Perfect
An Uncomfortably Familiar Situation Imran Hamdulay’s short film The Wait is a deft and sharp look at modern day South Africa through the microcosm of an experience familiar to most South Africans- a visit to the police station. Short-films, with their need to be succinct, can often pack a powerful punch and Hamdulay delivers one […]
LEGACY: THE DECOLONIZED HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA – Review by Timothy Niwamanya
INTERSECTIONALITY AND RESISTANCE Decoloniality, as a school of thought and action, has been central to dismantling the vestiges of cultural, economic and psychological imperialism among historically-oppressed people around the world. It critiques and deconstructs widely-held colonial attitudes, white supremacist narratives and artificial social hierarchies to validate and affirm suppressed native knowledge and lived experience. Tara […]
