Love, longing and closure, these are the emotions Nyasha Kadandara sees as being at the heart of her feature documentary debut, Matabeleland. A film that tells a personal story, on the backdrop of generational trauma and migration in a Zimbabwe still finding its way post Robert Mugabe's reign.
Matabeleland tells the story of Chris Nyathi, a Zimbabwean immigrant in Botswana, who has always believed his family is cursed ever since his father’s brutal murder in 1983 during the Gukurahundi massacres. He sees this curse as the cause of his financial struggles and is driven to give him a fitting reburial to make things right.
As Chris embarks on a journey to honour his father’s memory, he faces a profound question: will this reburial grant him the closure he has sought for so long, or will it force him to confront the consequences of his own choices?
The film is set for it's African première at this year's Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. The film will have screenings in Cape Town and Johannesburg, on the 21st and the 28th of June respectively.
"I hope audiences, particularly from Southern Africa, feel seen. This is what I aim to do with all of the films that I make. This is a very personal and intimate film about love, longing and closure. And I believe audiences will all be able to identify with these themes as we watch Chris story unfold," said Matabeleland Director, Nyasha Kadandara
The film has been 7 years in the making, and it is a true Pan African product with filming done in both Zimbabwe and Botswana, while the production house behind it, LBx Africa, is based in Kenya.
"It’s been a long, arduous, fulfilling journey making ‘Matabeleland’ come to screen. It can also be very scary to work on a film for so long and hope that it will resonate with people. However, so far it’s been very exciting to share this film with people to hear their insights on what they took from the film," shared Kadandara.
"Even in the few screenings that we’ve had so far, it’s been wonderful just to hear people say things such as 'this film helps me understand my father better'..." she went on.
The filmmaker is is hoping to bring a screening of the film to Zimbabwe in the next few months.
"We’ve already identified partners that we are going to work with and we are excited for our homecoming. We encourage people to follow our social media accounts for updates as we continue to roll out screenings in South Africa Zimbabwe and Botswana," said Kadandara.
Matabeleland had it's world première at the CPH:DOX 2025 in Copenhagen, earlier this year.
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