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For your consideration BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM SOUTH AFRICA THE WOUND THE WOUND A FILM BY JOHN TRENGOVE Written by JOHN TRENGOVE THANDO MGQoloZana & MALUSI BengU AWARDS PUBLICisT INTERNATIONAL SALES PRODUCTION COMPANY MEDIAPLAN PR PYRAMIDE URUCU MEDIA Executive Publicist INTERNATIONAL Producer Tatiana Detlofson Head of International Sales Elias Ribeiro [email protected] Agathe Valentin [email protected] mediaplanpr.com [email protected] +27 71 844 5435 +1 310 663 3465 +33 6 89 85 96 95 Producer Festivals & Markets Cait Pansegrouw NORTH AMERICAN Ilaria Gomarasca [email protected] DisTRIBUTOR [email protected] +27 83 395 0088 pyramidefilms.com KINO LORBER, INC. urucumedia.com Sr. VP Theatrical/Nontheatrical Distribution & Acquisitions Wendy Lidell [email protected] kinolorber.com 2 +1 212 629 6880 1 FESTIVALS AWARDS SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL VALENCIA CINEMA JOVE FAROE ISLANDS INTERNATIONAL World Cinema Competition INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL MINORITY FILM FESTIVAL Official Competition Official Selection BERLINALE PANORAMA Opening Film TAIPEI FILM FESTIVAL Hong Kong lesbiaN & Gay Film Official Competition FESTIVAL New Directors / New Films Official Selection Official Selection DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL HELSINKI INTERNATIONAL FILM MOOOV FILM FESTIVAL Official Competition FESTIVAL Official Competition Official Selection NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL NETIA Off CAMERA FILM FESTIVAL QUEER PORTO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF Official Competition Official Selection INDEPENDENT CINEMA Official Competition INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL CPH:PIX SANTANDER Official Selection SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL FILM Official Selection FESTIVAL BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL Official Competition MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL First Feature Competition FILM FESTIVAL THE TEL AVIV LGBT FILM FESTIVAL Official Competition MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL Opening Film Official Selection WORLD CINEMA AMSTERDAM toriNo Gay & lesbiaN Film Official Competition FILM AFRICA LONDON FESTIVAL Opening Film Official Competition 5 PREFACE The Wound is a compelling and taboo- breaking South African feature taking the international festival circuit by storm. Leading a new wave of African cinema, it is equal parts coming-of- age story, love drama, and intense psychological thriller told from a uniquely African perspective. A bold and unflinching new voice on the international stage. 4 5 SYNOPSIS Xolani, a lonely factory worker, joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood. When a defiant initiate from the city discovers his best kept secret, Xolani’s entire existence begins to unravel. 6 7 DIRECTOR’S NOTE The Wound was born out of a desire to In writing The Wound, inspiration came, push back against clichéd stereotypes unexpectedly, from President Robert of black masculinity perpetuated inside Mugabe. Statements that he and other and outside of African cinema. As a African leaders have made since the white man, representing marginalized early ‘90s imply that homosexuality is black realities that are not my own is, a symptom of western decadence that of course, complicated. Even highly threatens ‘‘traditional’’ culture. problematic. And so we thought: “okay, let’s use It was important to me that the story that idea. Let’s imagine ‘gayness’ as mirrors this problem. The character of some kind of virus that penetrates and Kwanda is an outsider to the traditional threatens a patriarchal organism, and world who expresses more or less let’s see how that organism responds my own ideas about human rights to being penetrated.” and individual freedom. He’s also the problem. His preconceptions create John Trengove jeopardy for others who have much more to lose than him. This was my way of saying, ‘‘I don’t have the answers and my own values don’t necessarily apply here’’. A film such as this cannot hope to provide solutions for the crisis faced by millions of queer people in the African continent and around the world, only to present the crisis for what it is, a deep and ever- widening chasm. 8 9 UkwALUKA Ukwaluka is a traditional initiation into manhood that is widely practiced by the amaXhosa people of South Africa. Twice a year, groups of initiates in their late adolescence leave their communities to live in secluded camps where they are ritually circumcized. For several weeks, initiates are nursed and mentored by young men from their communities (khankathas) after which they return home to assume the privileges and responsibilities of adult men. Increasingly, the practice faces mounting criticism for reasons of safety and relevance, although it remains a cornerstone of traditional Xhosa culture and is considered the defining event of a man’s life. While Xhosa men are forbidden to speak openly of their experience of ukwalukha, Nelson Mandela famously broke the secrecy taboo by describing his initiation in his autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom. The ritual is also the subject of The Wound co-writer Thando Mgqolozana’s debut novel, A Man Who Is Not a Man. 10 11 INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR JOHN TRENGOVE What drew you to the subject What was the process of writing Given the controversy of the ritual matter? The Wound? in South Africa, how do you think it will be received? I was interested in what happens when We started with a lot of research. groups of men come together and Spent time in the Eastern Cape which Ukwaluka is a taboo ritual and organize themselves outside of society is where the ritual is mostly practiced. representing it in the way we have is and the codes of their everyday lives. I We listened to many testimonials contentious. We knew from the start wanted to show the intense emotional and conversations with Xhosa men that we’d spark strong reactions from and physical exchanges that are who had been through the ritual. Gay traditionalists. There has also however possible in these spaces and how men, straight men, some urbanized been a lot of encouragement from a repressing strong feelings leads to a and affluent, others from remote rural younger Xhosa generation who seems How do you navigate the politics of The character of Kwanda comes closest kind of toxicity and violence. areas. These stories sparked our eager to break the silence around the being a white filmmaker depicting to expressing those values, but he’s earliest ideas about the narrative. initiation which is seen to perpetuate marginal characters with realities also the problem. His preconceptions As an outsider to this culture, it was some of the dangers associated with it. different than your own? create jeopardy and crises for others important that I approach this story Researching the ritual brought up who have much more to lose than him. from the perspective of characters conflicting feelings in me. You hear It’s a vast and very nuanced practice As much as possible, I tried to disrupt This was my way of saying, ‘‘I don’t who are themselves outsiders, who stories about how it can be a breeding and there remains a lot to be said my own preconceptions. Like most have the answers and my own values struggle to conform to the status quo ground for homophobic and hyper- about the ritual that is not my place middle-class audiences who watch the don’t necessarily apply here‘‘. that they are a part of. masculine behaviour. At the same time, to talk about. Things that need to be film, it would be easy for me to look at I got to see first hand the transformative said from within the culture. Hopefully Xolani and say, here is a gay character effect it had on some men who went The Wound could spark some of that. who is repressed and deserves to through it. In a world that is under- Maybe a gay Xhosa kid will look at it be emancipated from his oppressive fathered, there is something profound one day and go, actually, that wasn’t community and express himself as about a ritual that shows a young boy my experience at all, and be inspired to an individual. I resisted those kinds of his place in the world of men. write his own story. resolutions for his character and tried instead to present his problem for what it is, which is big and difficult, without clear answers. 12 13 How did you come to work with Can you describe your process on Thando Mgqolozana? set? I approached Thando when I read his We had a few rules that were there to first novel A Man Who Is Not A Man, help us stay connected to the truth. which deals with the initiation. Meeting All the roles including speaking extras him was a turning point, because he had to be first language isiXhosa clearly got what I was trying to do. I don’t speakers who had their own first- think he was necessarily interested in hand experience of the ritual. The only working on a project about the initiation exception to this was Niza Jay Ncoyini again, but he responded strongly to the who plays Kwanda, which made sense idea of depicting alternative African because his character challenges and masculinities. defies the ritual. The larger community of Xhosa men and elders in the film are Thando wrote his own version of the all non-actors. treatment, filtering my ideas through his own experiences and opening up We asked them to perform the different narrative possibilities within the frame aspects of the ritual as they would of the ritual. do it, and to react to the rehearsed scenarios in any way they felt was right. If they didn’t approve of a character’s On working with Nakhane Touré Can you speak about your financing, particularly international behavior, they would say so during collaboration with Urucu Media? co-production, meant that it finally got takes. Sometimes we wouldn’t call I met Nakhane about 2 years ago and made.

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