Milisuthando

That uncomfortable personal dimension makes this film feel like a fresh discussion of apartheid, even as it hits familiar points about how the system’s sinister mechanics were enabled, the relief of its dismantlement, the pains of reintegration.

Combining a treasure trove of archive footage, home movies and personal photographs to tell the history of the Transkei, Milisuthando is also a clear love letter to the filmmaker’s own family.

The non-linearity of this internal contention is beautifully reflected on a visual level; it takes the form of a personal essay accompanied by Bongela’s poetic voiceover.

Structured in five chapters, the film is an intimate and poetic portrait of herself and of her country as she contemplates the past, present, and future of South Africa and the lingering effects of apartheid.