It was produced as part of the Focus Features Africa First programme, which has been mentoring up-and-coming African filmmakers to produce quality short films. Filmmaker Matthew Jankes will receive a cash prize sponsored by The Africa Channel.
Seven films from across the continent competed in the fourth Africa in Motion short film competition. The competition receives dozens of entries from all over the continent each year, from which a shortlist is selected. The films deal with themes ranging from myths and folktales, families and relationships, to mysterious powers and the magic of storytelling. In these short films we see how African filmmakers continue to address serious and relevant social issues and how the scope of the genre is expanding through more films experimenting with style and narrative.
The Africa in Motion short film competition is geared towards young and emerging African filmmakers who have not yet produced feature-length films. Filmmaker Zina Saro-Wiwa, member of the jury, described "Umkhungo" as a deeply serious film with powerful performances.
Commenting on this year's shortlist, Noe Mendelle, director of Scottish Documentary Institute and one of the short film competition judges said: "The shortlist was extremely strong making it quite a challenge to select a winner. The technical standard of production is getting higher and higher. It was also lovely to see countries such as Algeria and Ethiopia represented in the competition."
