TZANEEN – Tzaneen-based filmmaker Molatelo Maenetja’s documentary, Hung Out Dry, has won the Best Documentary Award at the Umgungundlovu Film Festival in KwaZulu-Natal.

This win qualifies the documentary for submission to the South African Film and Television Awards 2025.

Maenetja, with over 23 years of film and television experience, expressed her excitement about the award, adding to her achievements this year.

Hung Out Dry, which took eight years to produce, portrays the daily struggle of villagers in Block 5, Bolobedu, within the Greater Tzaneen Municipality area, to access water.

Maenetja started documenting the village’s water meetings eight years ago, revealing the residents’ long-standing frustration over dry water taps, despite numerous water projects. “Residents have been trying to find answers to why they don’t have water decades after democracy.”

Although Maenetja had a borehole at her home, she felt compelled to help her fellow villagers.

“I embarked on a journey to find answers and to help my people get water,” she said. Unfortunately, some community activists who initially supported the cause were later co-opted into political positions, preventing them from advocating for the community, she told the Herald.

The documentary has garnered international attention, being showcased at the BRICS Film Festival in Moscow, Russia, in May, screened in Nigeria in March, and featured at the African Film Festival in the USA in June.