Milisuthando
By Charlotte Stace
Invited by writer and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga, the South African director Milisuthando Bongela, one of the most original voices in contemporary African cinema, presents her debut film Milisuthando, a documentary in the form of an essay about growing up in the apartheid regime, at the CCCB.
From 1948 to 1994, South Africa was governed by apartheid, a system of institutionalised racial segregation. In 1976, the government established Transkei as a promise of independence to the Black population. In fact, it was nothing more than a materialisation of the dream of segregation. Bongela grew up within the borders of this illusory form of liberation and, accordingly, did not know she was living in an apartheid regime until it ended.
Premiering in the official selection of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and opening MoMA’s New Directors/New Films series, Milisuthando blends personal archives and historical reflection to confront the hidden wounds left by segregation.