Resurrection of must-see film

IF, LIKE me, you didn’t get around to watching Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s critically-acclaimed This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, which was Lesotho’s official submission for the 2021 Oscar’s, you can finally do so as it’s streaming on Showmax.

This was Mary Twala Mhlongo’s final artistic gift to the world before her death in July 2020.

Months later, it made a big noise as the opening film for the Durban International Film Festival, where it won honours for Artistic Bravery, Best Direction and Best Actress. To date, it has accumulated 33 international awards.

The Mosotho drama centred on Mantoa (Mhlongo), an 80-year old widow preparing for the end by arranging her own funeral and bidding farewell to worldly affairs.

However, when she learns that her homeland has been earmarked for a dam, resulting in residents being relocated, she digs in her heels on what she deems a great miscarriage of justice.

This was not only a passion project for Mosese (now living in Berlin), it was an intensely personal story that he wanted to share with the world.