Shorts Program: Mzansi Shorts

Q&A with Hlumela Matika, Reabetswe Moeti, and Oliver North on May 14

Reflections on history, memory, and personal narratives in South Africa.

A Dream Deciphered / Ukuhlolwa Kwephupha
Hlumela Matika, 2022, South Africa, 6m
U.S. Premiere
A woman asleep begins to dream. It is a dream that distorts her perception of time and space in relation to her mundane daily tasks—an illusion that evokes a surreal experience of the self.

The Ant / Mier
Oliver North, 2021, South Africa, 26m
U.S. Premiere
English and Afrikaans with English subtitles
Oliver North’s Mier covers two days in the lives of Oupa, a San hunter/gatherer who lives in the desert, and Boetie, a ‘colored’ boy from a nearby settlement to which his people were relocated. Boetie is struggling with his own inner demons when he meets the older man, who shares his traditional values with the stubborn and proud youngster. Over the course of the story, we find out that they are hunting on this land illegally and that they have more in common than either would suspect.

Mother of Moeketsi / Mma Moeketsi
Reabetswe Moeti, 2018, South Africa, 25m
New York Premiere
Sotho with English subtitles
Based on true events, this film recounts a 2012 massacre in which a group of South African mine workers went on a wage-increase strike, leading to a national tragedy in which 34 miners were brutally killed by the police.

Intelligent / Botlhale
Reabetswe Moeti, 2022, South Africa, 35m
U.S. Premiere
Botlhale, who’s mentally ill, makes new friends and finds love when he’s institutionalized. The comrades plan an escape to Chicken Heart, a fast-food joint, where they’ll live out their fantasies of being high-society people. But their outing collides with the shutting down of their home, forcing the friends to confront tragedy and death head-on.