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Lost Tongue Documentary Comes Home

by Staff Reporter
11 May 2016 at 14:07hrs | Views
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Johannesburg - Following a successful New York premier in March, Lost Tongue is set to be showcased in South Africa. In June, the film will its African premier at the respected Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival in Cape Town (3 June) and Johannesburg (7 June). Later in the month, the 75 minute documentary will be at the 37th Durban International Film Festival. On July 1, the award winning documentary will be featured at the Indie Karoo Film Festival.

"We are glad that Lost Tongue will be home in June and July, this is a perfect moment for the South Africans to watch the film and reflect on the message that relates to all of us," said Francis Yannicq Hweshe, one of the film producers.

Lost Tongue explores the story of Helena Steenkamp, a #Khomani San lady in the Kalahari as she battles to save her N/uu language. The language, believed to be 25000 years old is only spoken by three elders, the youngest of them aged 81. It is against this chilling prospect that Helena moves to engage her elders to save the language, culture and values of the #Khomani San.

"It is a layered, universal story of culture, values, history of a people that will be screened at home. The film not only carries an important message for all of us but it is also a visual treat that tells a story of humanity," said Lost Tongue director Davison Mudzingwa.

The story of the #Khomani San people swings into depths of a brutal past of subjugation that forced them to abandon their language and way of life. Mvura Ya Afrika (MYA) Productions, the company behind Lost Tongue believes this is an urgent story that South Africans and the world need to take heed of.

Lost Tongue is also an official selection of the Zanzibar International Film Festival set to take place in July. Later in July, the film will be in Canada where it is also in competition for the Best Documentary at the ReelHeART International Film and Screenplay Festival.

Having won the Women Film Critics Circle award at the Socially Relevant Film Festival New York in March, the makers believe the recognition is both humbling and gives traction to the film and the message it carries.

As part of the social impact project, the Producer have set the Lost Tongue Legacy project to build a multimedia centre that will house N/uu language archives as well as training multimedia storytelling skills to young people in The Kalahari.

Source - Agencies