What the soil remember (en)

Wat die grond onthou

Selection: 

Director: 

José Cardoso

Country: 

  • Ecuador

Format: 

Feature film

Type: 

Documentary

Film exhibited in Toulouse: 

Iwianch, El Diablo Venado - Découvertes Documentaire 2021

Script writer(s): 

José Cardoso, Adrian Van Wyk, Pieter Odendaal, María García, Allison Claire-Hoskin, Charles Palm

Synopsis: 

A vibrant and diverse community flourishes in the fertile South African lands Today its elders tell the story of how their people were uprooted from neighboring lands and thrown into deserted areas; the suffering separation left scars but never transformed them into individualistic beings. Despite the forced separation that occurred in the 1960s, today they remain together thanks to their wisdom and faith. A University was built on their lands, and today this institution accepts their public guilt, but to return the land seems impossible. The elders light up the screen with their way of approaching the problem; Community wisdom, spirituality, and patience faces what apartheid tried to take away from them fifty years before.

Visual concept: 

A recollection of household experiences and communal neighborhood life. A strong sense of community interaction and family bonds were found within this district of Stellenbosch. The narrative shifts to how the legacies of the past removals still affect their day to day experience within Stellenbosch and their search for justice. An array of interviews, speeches and "street" verbal expressions to guide the story, accompanied by visual versification through observational documentary metaphors.