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 These outdated laws continue to feed a cycle of stigma, systemic violence, and social exclusion, ensuring that sex workers are […]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 […]
Keba, Interrupted – Review by Tony Asankomah
A Heartfelt Exploration of Grief and Responsibility “Keba, Interrupted” is a well-put-together short film by director Meja Shoba, telling quite a poignant, relatively simple story of grief, responsibility, and family. It revolves around Keba, a character well-played by Tshepiso Jeme, whose life is shaken in turmoil following his mother’s death and the unexpected responsibility of […]
Height of the Kite – Review by Tony Asankomah
A Struggle For A Voice. “Height of The Kite” is a short documentary film directed by Mehraneh Salimian and Amin Pakparvar that explores the gender and racial discrimination women face in the Afro-Asian communities of rural Balochistan on the Iran-Pakistan border. The film in observation style focuses on Fariba, a teenage girl with aspirations of […]
V’S SECRET – Review by Timothy Niwamanya
TWO MEN AND A THONG In Bassma Nancy Farah’s 12-minute dark comedy short film, V’s Secret, the character of Adam (played by Maher Gamal) is a newly-wed twenty-something living with his wife in a Cairo apartment. Early in the film, his wife is away at work as he hangs the laundry while in-conversation with her. […]