Shortlisted for 2018 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, The Wound is an exploration of tradition and sexuality set amid South Africa’s XHOSA culture. Every year, the tribe’s young men are brought to the mountains of the Eastern Cape to participate in an ancient coming-of-age ritual. Xolani, a quiet and sensitive factory worker (played by openly gay musician Nakhane Toure), is assigned to guide Kwanda, a city boy from Johannesburg sent by his father to be toughened up, through this rite of passage into manhoodAs Kwanda defiantly negotiates his queer identity within this masculine environment, he quickly recognises the nature of Xolani’s relationship with fellow guide Vija. The three men commence a dangerous dance with each other and their own desires and, soon, the threat of exposure elevates the tension to breaking point.
