Les Initiés
(Inxeba)

When John Trengove chose to set his story of an initiation into manhood on the borders of Eastern Cape, it was not so much to offer documented of the Ukwaluka ritual practised by the Xhosa tribe (and the language of the film), but more to root the gravity of his intention in the abysmal divide between modernity and tradition. This conservative South-African community, which lauds the values of masculinity, is unhesitatingly racist and homophobic. The ritual that they perpetuate leads the young teenage males, circumcised by knife, towards a virile and social power controlled by the Elders and accompanied by the Carers, who are a kind of benevolent initiator. Xolani and Vija are two such carers. Determined but secretive, the two men meet each year for the ritual on Xhosa lands, to live out their passionate love story. This film took part in the 2013 Produire au Sud workshop in Nantes. GM