In the basements of Johannesburg city, a group of Zulu men parade in flamboyant outfits — gracefully showing off magnificent garb, bought at a price. These are “Swenkas” who’ve been competing for money, cows and watches for decades. Their pageants are a famous example of how extreme makeover doubles as traditional rite. They’ve been the subject of a major, award-winning photographic essay by TJ Lemon, and now they feature in a documentary showing at this year’s Encounters Documentary Film Festival.
Denmark’s Jeppe Ronde directs The Swenkas, made in 2004, which journeys with a young hostel migrant called Sebelo as he follows in the footsteps of his deceased father, a past kingpin of the Swenkas brotherhood.
The background story is told by a charming old scoundrel, ably played by familiar actor Yule Masiteng, who looks a lot like Bankole Omotoso in Vodacom’s “Yebo Gogo” commercials. By jumping in and out of fiction — and with the use of American lounge music — Ronde creates an impression of a place in which dusty, working-class men metomorphose from modern builders to old-time gangsters. But gangsters they aren’t — in fact, their code of conduct prohibits bad manners, sloppiness and alcoholism.
Ronde has been criticised for not using more Zulu music in his soundtrack, but what the hell. When the Swenkas dress up and show off their finery they are after all not doing anything particularly Zulu.
If you’re looking for a reason to be proudly South African, The Swenkas is it. There’s no mention of crime, grime is just a conduit to the fulfillment of the men’s fantasies, and there’s no Aids and plenty of love and support waiting for Swenka Sabelo when he returns to his rural home.
Television audiences reared on conflict and investigative journalism will feel fulfilled by two women-centered documentaries that show how poorly tradition is adapted to life in the modern world.
Petr Lom has exposed the horrors of forced marriage in Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. The practice of abducting young women in Kyrgyzstan is a communal endeavour undertaken by male members of families under the supervision of elder female relatives. All the women in the 50-minute documentary claim to have found love with their husbands after abduction.
If you like your documentary subject matter traumatised, weeping, looking for escape and, in one instance, suicidal, then you’ll love Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. You will also enjoy the Israeli work Sentenced to Marriage, made by Anat Zuria in 2004. Israel’s laws are based on religious codes and prohibit a woman from instigating a divorce. It is only men who can free their estranged partners from marriage. In the country’s courts women plead for release, sometimes from abusive partners who agree to divorce only once money has changed hands.
If one is weary of the hysteria of the rabbinical court waiting rooms and consultation chambers, then there is always the 90-minute look at flying birds in Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud and Michel Debat’s Oscar-nominated Winged Migration. This epic masterpiece follows dozens of species of birds as they obey their instincts, traversing the planet.
Special events include women’s programme at Constitution Hill throughout August. In Cape Town, on July 24 and 25, Encounters will launch a monthly programme at Independent Armchair in Observatory. In Maputo in September, the Encounters crew will launch their first Mozambican festival.
The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival takes place in Cape Town at Cinema Nouveau from July 15 to 31 and in Johannesburg at Cinema Nouveau from August 4 to 14. For information visit www.encounters.co.za or Tel: (021) 465 4686
SA doccies on show
A Child is a Child (Because of Other People). Different kids record an educational song and thus get to know one another.
A Small Matter of Mules. Past and present of the Griqua nation.
Daddy’s Girl. Murder in Queenstown — and possibly South Africa’s most dysfunctional family.
Grietjie van Garies. The 77-year-old who’s still entertaining many with her stories and songs.
iHoliday eTranskei. Far-flung Xhosa family gathers for Christmas.
iKhaya Malawi. Rediscovering the other family of a migrant labourer who left Malawi decades ago and came to South Africa.
Law and Freedom. Landmark cases in our Constitutional Court, helping creating a new society based on freedom and dignity. Directed by Zackie Achmat.
Vuwani (Awake). Living in Johannesburg, director Rudzani Dzuguda discovers he is to be a father and seeks his roots in rural Venda.