''The Wound'' (
Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people
See als ...
: ) is a 2017 South African
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
John Trengove.
It was screened in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the
2017 Sundance Film Festival
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29, 2017. The first lineup of competition films was announced November 30, 2016.
Awards
The following awards were presented:
* Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – ''I Don't Feel at ...
and the Panorama section of the
67th Berlin International Film Festival
The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as President of the Jury. '' Django'', directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the ...
.
The film opened the
Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival
TLVFest or the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival ( he, הפסטיבל הבינלאומי לקולנוע גאה) is an annual film festival held in Tel Aviv, Israel. The festival is focused on LGBT themed film from around the world.
The f ...
2017.
It was selected as the South African entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
90th Academy Awards
The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...
,
making the December shortlist.
Plot
The story tracks a closeted relationship between two men in the context of the Xhosa initiation ritual of ''
Ulwaluko
Ulwaluko, traditional circumcision and initiation from childhood to adulthood, is an ancient initiation rite practised (though not exclusively) by the Xhosa people, and is commonly practised throughout South Africa. The ritual is traditionally i ...
''.
["] Xolani, a factory worker, joins the men of his community at the annual ceremony in the mountains of Eastern Cape. In addition to serving as a mentor to the initiates, Xolani looks forward to the event as it provides him the opportunity to reestablish his sexual and romantic relationship with Vija. When Xolani is assigned to be the mentor of Kwanda, a young man from Johannesburg, he quickly realizes that Kwanda is also gay, and Kwanda soon realizes the nature of the relationship between Vija and Xolani. Tensions soon emerge between the three.
Cast
*
Nakhane as Xolani
* Bongile Mantsai as Vija
* Niza Jay Ncoyini as Kwanda
* Siphosethu "Seth Singer" Ngcetane as Nkosi
* Loyiso Lloyd N Ngqayana as Vija's Initiate
* Sibabalwe Esbie Ngqayana as Zuko
* Halalisani Bradley Cebekhulu as Lukas
* Inga Qwede as Ncedo
Production
Inspiration for ''The Wound'' came after director John Trengove read ''A Man Who is Not a Man'', a novel by
Thando Mgqolozana
Thando Mgqolozana (born 27 August 1983, in Cape Town, South Africa) is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, a recipient of the Golden Key International Honour for Scholastic Achievement, and one of the ''Mail & Guardian''’s Top 200 Young South Africans of ...
on the topic of the Xhosa initiation ceremony.
Trengove wished to challenge the notion that homosexuality was a product of western culture that posed a threat to traditional African culture. The film received funding from the National Film and Video Foundation.
Cultural experts were consulted to ensure the authenticity of the material.
Reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 89%, based on 44 reviews with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Wound'' uses its complex, timely story as effective grist for a thought-provoking exploration of the human dynamic."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
gives the film a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
''Inxeba'' received 19 awards at 44 festivals worldwide; received eight South African Film and Television Awards (Safta) nominations, including Best Actor, Best Directing and Best Film; and was short-listed for an
Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Controversy
The film has been accused of portraying secretive initiation rituals. However, other media covering the same topic, like
Nelson Mandela's ''
Long Walk to Freedom
''Long Walk to Freedom'' is an autobiography credited to South African President Nelson Mandela. It was ghostwritten by Richard Stengel and first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, educatio ...
'', have not received similar criticism, leading to accusations that complaints about the film are instead motivated by
homophobia.
A day after the film's release in South Africa, cinemas in the
Eastern Cape province were forced to cancel screenings of the film and offer refunds because of protests, intimidation and vandalism.
Nu Metro Cinemas
Nu Metro Cinemas is a South African cinema company. Its head office is in Dunkeld West, Gauteng.
Nu Metro's history dates to when the first Metro Theatre opened in Johannesburg in 1932. The oldest still-operating Nu Metro cineplex is Bedford, w ...
subsequently cancelled screenings countrywide, while
Ster-Kinekor
Ster-Kinekor is a South African-based cinema company, and the country's largest movie exhibitor. It represents 60-65% of the market, having 56 cinema complexes consisting of 400 screens and 64,000 seats; 154 of those screens being 3D cinemas. It ...
continued to show it outside of the Eastern Cape. The film's producers filed complaints with the
Human Rights Commission
A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights.
The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...
and the
Commission for Gender Equality over threats and violence.
Crew and cast received death threats and were forced to go into hiding.
Reclassification
The film was initially classified as 16LS by South Africa's
Film and Publication Board
The Film and Publication Board, (FPB / stylized as fpb) is a content-classification and regulation authority in South Africa, operating under the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies. The FPB was established in 1996 under the Film ...
(FPB), but was later reclassified as X18 by the FPB's Appeal Tribunal after complaints by the
Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA) is a South African non-governmental pressure group which was formed in 1987 by some of the traditional leaders of the homeland of KwaNdebele, with the support of the United Democratic ...
and other cultural and Christian organisations. X18 is the rating reserved for
hardcore pornography, although Inxeba contains none, and meant that distribution was limited to premises licensed to show pornography, resulting in the film's removal from all South African cinemas.
The
Democratic Alliance criticised the decision of the Appeal Tribunal, characterising it as "nothing short of censorship" by "patriarchs and homophobes". FPB classifiers themselves have concluded that the Appeal Tribunal's rating amounted to unlawful censorship based on homophobia.
Urucu Media, the producers of ''Inxeba'', and the SA Screen Federation challenged the film's X18 rating in court, on the basis that they were denied an opportunity to make representation to the Tribunal, and that the Appeal Tribunal's decision was incompatible with the principles of the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Govern ...
.
In March 2018 the
Gauteng Division
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...
of the
High Court allowed the film to be shown in cinemas with an 18 rating while the court action was pending. In June 2018 the court overturned the Appeal Tribunal's decision and restored the original rating of 16LS.
See also
Official website for ''Inxeba , The Wound''*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wound, The
2017 films
2017 drama films
South African drama films
South African LGBT-related films
Films shot in the Eastern Cape
Gay-related films
LGBT-related drama films
2017 LGBT-related films