Is This About Filmmaking?

Kanarie (2018) is a coming of-age film that follows a young man trying to navigate his identity and place in the world.In this episode, we discussed our initial thoughts on the film and give a brief character analysis, with focus on characters that speak to the film’s throughline.Listener discretion is advised.

In the final episode on Black Girl, we unpack one of the film’s most powerful scenes, still exploring themes of identity, colonialism, and isolation. We reflect on how Diouana’s story reveals the emotional toll of displacement and the lasting impact of power and race dynamics.Listener discretion is advised.

A discussion on respectability politics as a regulating force, examining how it informs identity, social mobility, and belonging. We explore how characters navigate these expectations, and how compliance and resistance coexist.Listener discretion is advised.

We get into epistemic violence vs epistemic disobedience. We discuss who gets to define truth, whose voices are erased, and what it means to push back.Listener discretion is advised.

To journey to something better means to encounter the unknown and sometimes a change in place doesn't mean a change in freedom.This month, we focus on Ousmane Sembène's 1966 film, Black Girl. A young Seneglase girl gets employed as a nanny for a French couple. She excitedly relocates for greener pastures, but finds her life shrinking.Listener discretion is advised.

Examining the film through its locations, colour palette, and key scenes, and how these elements symbolise power, silence, and the tension of this difficult case and the people involved.Listener discretion is advised.

We explore the star witness in Citation and why this character is crucial to the story; holding the power to speak truth, challenge authority, and expose institutional failures, while showing the personal cost of stepping forward. But we also explore the connection between Moremi and the witness. Does this work?

A character-focused discussion examining how key figures are written in relation to power, silence, and accountability. The analysis looks at motivation, agency, and credibility, and how character construction reflects the institutional dynamics at the centre of the story.Listener discredition is advised.

In this episode, we discuss how Citation (2020) constructs power within its academic setting. We examine how the university functions not just as a backdrop, but as an active system that reinforces hierarchy, authority, and silence.Listener discretion is advised.

What are the chances of a student being believed and finding justice in a system that is designed to protect the powerful over the vulnerable? This question encapsulates the film we are discussing in today's episode.Citation (2020) is a social drama that follows a postgraduate student who accuses a respected university professor of sexual harassment and assault.Listener discretion is advised.

Saying goodbye to Queenstown Kings, Loyiso and Reineth touch on the representation of women in the film.

On the penultimate episode about Queentown Kings, Loyiso and Reineth take a moment to consider discipline and selflessness and the differences between traditions and modernity.

Continuing with the conversation, we go into a deeper dive with the film, Queenstown Kings.

In this episode, Loyiso and Reineth examine themes of forgiveness, community, and redemption through Queenstown Kings, considering how the beautiful game of soccer becomes a shared language in Komani, Eastern Cape.