30. Film Festival della Lessinia
Bosco Chiesanuova (Italia)
23 August - 1 September 2024

In the dim light of a smoky bar, a man begins to tell a story of spirits in the earth and of Nasaretha, a village in the mountains of Lesotho. There lives Mantoa, alone. In her house made of brown earth she awaits the return of her son, who has left to work in a coal mine. Upon hearing of his death, Mantoa decides to join her ancestors at the family cemetery: the search for a silent end will clash with the plan of a local politician, who is determined to submerge the valley to build a dam. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese's fictional debut builds the narrative on the actress Mary Kuksie Twala's face and performance, marked by the wrinkles of a remote era. Evoked by the sound of the traditional lesiba, the mythological stature of Mantoa's struggle, anchored to her fragile body and her roots, is juxtaposed with a documentarist's gaze, with which Mosese depicts the Lesothian traditions and identity, painting it in bright colours. The palette mixes turquoise, purple and ocher in the scenography and costumes, testimony of a vitality that burns and crosses past and present before drowning, submerged by the waters.

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  Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese

  Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese is a self-taught director and visual artist originally from Lesotho and residing in Berlin. His first documentary, Mother I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You (2019), explores his relationship with his native country. His first feature film, This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, was selected and financed by the Biennale College Cinema.