South African drama the Wound selected for 07 Sundance Film Festival

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South African drama The Wound selected for 2017 Sundance Film Festival --

Thu, 01 Dec 2016 11:34

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The 2017 Sundance Film Festival has begun unveiling its line-up with today s announcement of the 66 films selected for U.S. Competition, World Competition and NEXT sections.

Selected for the World Dramatic Competition category is South African filmmaker John Trengoves The Wound a South Africa, Germany, Netherlands, France co-production that tells the story of Kwanda, a precocious gay teen, who travels from the city to the rural settlement of his family s origin to be circumcised in a traditional rites-of-passage into manhood. For three weeks, Kwanda and his fellow initiates live in isolation, recuperating in mountain huts. He forms an intimate bond with his caregiver Xolani a mysterious man who helps him endure his first week on the mountain. Kwanda s curiosity is piqued when he begins to suspect that Xolani is involved in a closeted sexual relationship with Vija, a charismatic and volatile alpha male from the village. Kwanda is drawn to Vija and seeks out his approval as a father figure, sparking a jealousy between the two men. When it is discovered that Kwanda has witnessed a sexual encounter between them, Vija fears exposure and goes on the hunt for the city boy.

Shadow and Act reported that according to the filmmaker, when he started writing The Wound, he was frustrated with very narrow depictions of African masculinity in cinema and wanted to push back against some of the homophobic attitudes held by many across the continent.

Producers of the film Urucu Media, an independent production company nurturing new voices in South African film add: We are making a controversial and political film. Finding support in South Africa has proven to be difficult in the two years of development. Our national funder has a mandate to support films with purely a commercial neck. We are depicting a taboo story world We are not willing to compromise on the integrity of the work; therefore we turned to the international community in order to finance a film that shines light on a serious issue in our contemporary society.

And to assist in that regard, the project received financing from the International Film Festival Rotterdam s Hubert Bals Fund (HBF), and was also selected for the Venice Production Bridge, a two-day financing event that hosted 40 selected European and International projects looking to close their international financing.

The Wound stars Nakhane Toure and Bongile Mantsai. Trengove directs from a script he co-wrote with Thando Mgqolozana and Malusi Bengu. Elias Ribeiro and Batana Vundla are producers.

Source: Shadow and Act

View the teaser trailer:

THE WOUND (TEASER) - a film by John Trengove from Urucu Media on Vimeo.

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