Die Wunde

A Film by John Trengove.  In Xhosa with ger­man subtitles.

Eastern Cape, South Africa. A lonely fac­to­ry worker, Xolani, takes time off his job to assist during an annu­al Xhosa cir­cumcis­i­on initia­ti­on into man­hood. In a remo­te moun­tain camp that is off limits to women, young men, pain­ted in white och­re, recup­er­a­te as they learn the mas­cu­li­ne codes of their cul­tu­re. In this envi­ron­ment of machis­mo and aggres­si­on, Xolani cares for a defi­ant initia­te from Johannesburg, Kwanda, who quick­ly lear­ns Xolani’s best kept secret, that he is in love with ano­ther man. Having first explo­red male cir­cumcis­i­on in his short film Ibhokhwe, South African direc­tor John Trengove revi­sits this topic and other ritu­als of mas­cu­li­ni­ty in his first fea­ture. The ten­si­on that builds inex­orab­ly throug­hout the film deri­ves on the one hand from the young Kwanda who incre­asing­ly calls into ques­ti­on the patri­ar­chal codes of the initia­ti­on, as well as the unbe­ara­ble cri­sis buil­ding in Xolani as he must choo­se bet­ween the tra­di­tio­nal world that he knows, and his own fulfillment.

Südafrika / Deutschland / Niederlande / Frankreich 2016
Xhosa mit dt. Untertiteln, 88 Min.
Regie: John Trengove
Buch: John Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana, Malusi Bengu
Kamera: Paul Özgür 
Schnitt: Matthew Swanepoel
Mit: Nakhane Touré, Bongile Mantsai, Niza Jay Ncoyini

Die Wunde – Trailer für die offi­zi­el­le Website from Salzgeber & Co. Medien GmbH on Vimeo.