Winner of the 2018 BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Rungano Nyoni made her mark on British cinema with her sharply satirical and groundbreaking first feature, ‘I Am Not a Witch’.
When eight-year-old Shula turns up alone and unannounced in a rural Zambian village, the locals are suspicious. A minor incident escalates to a full-blown witch trial, where she is found guilty and sentenced to life on a state-run witch camp. There, she is tethered to a long white ribbon and told that if she ever tries to run away, she will be transformed into a goat. As the days pass, Shula begins to settle into her new community, but a threat looms on the horizon. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision – whether to resign herself to life on the camp, or take a risk for freedom.
At times moving, often funny and occasionally surreal, ‘I Am Not a Witch’ offers spellbinding storytelling with flashes of anarchic humour. Shot by David Gallego (‘Embrace of the Serpent’), it’s extraordinarily beautiful cinema.
