Two South Africa-Centric Movies Shine at Sundance Film Festival

Two movies with South African themes have generated a lot of interest at the famous Sundance Film Festival in Utah, United States. They are ‘Trophy’ and ‘The Wound’ – shining a spotlight respectively on hunting’s role in wildlife conservation, and on sexuality and masculinity.

Trophy is a documentary about poaching, wildlife conservation and the complex role of US hunters in southern Africa.

The American-based directors of Trophy – Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau – say they want to present the facts from all sides.

Their hope is that after watching the doc, “people will leave with more questions than answers, and within that, a dialogue will be created that maybe there isn’t one right way or wrong way.”

While the filmmakers reveal they “both cried” after filming an elephant hunt, Israeli-director Schwartz says he believes South African rhino breeder John Hume may be right that rhino horn trading and breeding should be allowed in SA. “Privatisation of breeders and encouraging breeding is a successful model and I know the animal rights movement is going to hate me for it, but I think they are wrong,” he says. 

In its review Variety magazine said the film’s “wealth of conflicting facts, figures, and arguments routinely force one to re-calibrate their feelings about the issues at hand. The result is a lament for both the animals at the centre of so many crosshairs, and for a modern world seemingly only capable of saving lives by taking them.”

Many have praised the film, likening it to ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ (about climate change) and ‘Blackfish’ (about killer-whales in captivity at Sea World) – which were both previously also at Sundance – and saying it is as important at introducing the public to a significant and pressing issue in our natural world.

The doc is in English and Afrikaans (with English subtitles)

‘The Wound’ is also a groundbreaking story – about masculinity and sexuality – and is set during a traditional initiation ritual for teenage boys in a rural Xhosa community in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

The film, by John Trengrove, features an all-male Xhosa cast (and is in Xhosa with English subtitles) and makes its debut at Sundance.

The Wound tells the story of Xolani, a lonely factory worker, who travels to the rural mountains with the men of his community to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood (which includes circumcision). When a defiant initiate from Johannesburg discovers his best kept secret, a forbidden gay love, Xolani’s entire existence begins to unravel.

Sundance says the film offers a rare glimpse into the “secretive male-only cultural ritual fighting for relevance in an increasingly westernised world and orchestrates a complex, dynamic examination of sexuality, masculinity, and the clash between traditional and contemporary African values.”

The Wound explores the universal feeling of “panic when one’s very identity is threatened”, and is a co-production between SA, The Netherlands, Germany and France. It is due for release in South Africa in July 2017.

Variety describes the film as a “hard-edged but beautifully wrought study of clashing Xhosa models of masculinity will be an eye-opener to outsiders — and some South Africans too.”

Watch The Wound official trailer

https://youtu.be/cE8gN2Vdh8s