Film on lack of water screens in Russia
Tzaneen born and raised filmmaker, Molatelo Bossman showcased a documentary she filmed locally at the BRICS Film Festival in Russia last week.
She was among three South African filmmakers who were screening their work, alongside other filmmakers from the BRICS countries. Her documentary, Hung Out Dry, took eight years to make and is about the day-to-day struggle of a group of villagers in Block 5 in Bolobedu to get water. Bolobedu falls within the Greater Tzaneen municipal area. “Eight years ago, I started capturing water meetings held in my village. I found that residents have been trying to find answers to why they don’t have water decades after democracy,” she says.
“They were frustrated because although there have been several water projects with water taps installed, the very same taps are still dry years later,” Molatelo explains. She says because she had a borehole at home, she had water, but she could not sit back and witness her fellow villagers suffer. “I embarked on a journey to find answers and to help my people get water, unfortunately, some of the community activists I worked with throughout the years have turned their backs on the community and were co-opted into political positions that don’t allow them to fight for the local community anymore.”
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She told the Herald that although she was hoping that by the time the documentary was finished, Block 5, would have water, but they still do not have water and have to buy water from households with boreholes. Hence, she is excited about the attention that the documentary is getting. “I’m excited to have been chosen as one of the three filmmakers from home who are screening their work, alongside great filmmakers.”
She attended the festival in Moscow with her business partner, Karabo Rabjanyane. The film was also screened in Nigeria in March and in June it will be screened at the African Film Festival in the United States (USA). The film will officially launch in South Africa in August during Women’s Month. Molatelo is also known for her film When Babies Don’t Come, a film on her own real-life struggle to conceive. Currently, she and her husband are raising her sister’s two daughters 10 and 5 years old. In 2021 Molatelo won a SAFTA Golden Horn Award for Outstanding Provincial Contribution for her work in Limpopo.
