ICYMI: Ran der Merwe’s documentary returns the director to the Northern Cape where he grew up, but glosses over trauma and injustice
Situated in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, Calvinia is a rural town blessed with a magnificently scenic landscape, where towering mountain ranges give way to far-reaching plains. It is also the birthplace of film-maker Rudivan der Merwe, whose documentary ode, with its triptych structure guided by childhood memories, is both a pilgrimage and farewell to his home town.
Van der Merwe first fixes his camera on his parents, who were livestock ranchers. In contrast to the supposed quaintness of farm life, the presence of violence is also emphasised; one scene, for instance, lingers on a goat being slaughtered. There are other forces of violence at play as well. Conversations with a lesbian couple reveal the homophobia that runs deep in the town. Continue reading…
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