The second film submitted for Oscar international feature contention by Southeast African nation Malawi, following Shemu Joyah’s “The Road to Sunrise” in 2018, “Falsani: A Tale of Survival” offers an earnest depiction of struggle against poverty and corruption. Director Gift Sukez Sukali and writer Gilbert Moyo’s debut is technically competent if more haphazard in storytelling terms, articulating its social issues in terms alternately blunt and sketchy. Still, it represents a promising effort for a local industry still at a formative stage, one that will be of inevitable interest to programmers for African cinema and human rights-themed forums.
Introducing herself in sporadic voiceover narration, heroine Fatsani Lema (Hannah Sukali) is an 11-year-old orphan being raised by her sickly grandmother (Leliya Samson), though the caregiving tends to go more in the reverse direction. Despite considerable domestic duties, Fatsani manages to go to school, where her academic aptitude is duly noted by teacher Mrs.
Introducing herself in sporadic voiceover narration, heroine Fatsani Lema (Hannah Sukali) is an 11-year-old orphan being raised by her sickly grandmother (Leliya Samson), though the caregiving tends to go more in the reverse direction. Despite considerable domestic duties, Fatsani manages to go to school, where her academic aptitude is duly noted by teacher Mrs.
- 12/19/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Of the six Sub-Saharan African submissions, the buzziest titles include Somalia’s first-ever entry, “The Gravedigger’s Wife” from feature debutant Khadar Ayderus Ahmed and Chad’s Cannes competitor, “Lingui: The Sacred Bonds” from veteran helmer Mahamet-Saleh Haroun.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s dysfunctional family dramedy “Barakat” from Amy Jephta earns points for likeability although it represents a genre not usually awarded by the Academy. Nevertheless, the tale of a family feud developing when the clan matriarch decides to take a second chance on love is a universally relatable one.
“The Gravedigger’s Wife” arri-ves at the Academy screenings trailing the top prize from Fespaco, Africa’s largest film festival. Mogadishu-born director-writer Ahmed came to Finland as a refugee at the age of 16 and returned to his African roots for his first feature, which is both a touching love story and a tragedy of social injustice about a poor man trying to get treatment for his ailing wife.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s dysfunctional family dramedy “Barakat” from Amy Jephta earns points for likeability although it represents a genre not usually awarded by the Academy. Nevertheless, the tale of a family feud developing when the clan matriarch decides to take a second chance on love is a universally relatable one.
“The Gravedigger’s Wife” arri-ves at the Academy screenings trailing the top prize from Fespaco, Africa’s largest film festival. Mogadishu-born director-writer Ahmed came to Finland as a refugee at the age of 16 and returned to his African roots for his first feature, which is both a touching love story and a tragedy of social injustice about a poor man trying to get treatment for his ailing wife.
- 12/14/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
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