Matabeleland

Feature | Documentary | Zimbabwe, Kenya & Botswana

Synopsis

WORLD PREMIERE: CPH:DOX 2025

Chris has always believed his family is cursed ever since his father’s brutal murder in 1983 when President Robert Mugabe orchestrated the massacre of over 20,000 people in Matabeleland. Nearly four decades later, Chris, an immigrant in neighbouring Botswana, is struggling to support his massive family as he grapples with unpaid wages from his job, leaving him stretched thin and often absent. His girlfriend, Dumi, loves him but warns that their relationship can only continue if he finally commits to marriage.

A political shift brings hope, and Chris meets Shari, a woman who conducts exhumations so he can finally rebury his father in the right place. As Chris embarks on a journey to honour his father’s memory, he faces a profound question: will this reburial grant him the closure he has sought for so long, or will it force him to confront the consequences of his own choices?

Film credit

  • Director: Nyasha Kadandara
  • Producer: Sam Soko
  • Co-Producer : Bob Moore
  • Cinematographer: Nyasha Kadandara
  • Editor: Jordan Inaan
  • Music by: Eduardo Aram, Gabriel Milliet
  • Duration: 76′
  • Year: 2025
  • Language(s): Ndebele, Shona & Tswana
  • Subtitle(s): Portuguese, English, Spanish

DOK.Fest Munich (2026), New African Film Festival, CPH:DOX (2025), Encounters South Africa (2025 – African Premiere), IDFA – Amsterdam (2025), DOC NYC – New York (2025), NBO Film Festival (2025), Bergen International Film Festival, AFRIFF, Joburg Film Festival

For festivals and other screenings inquiries please send us an email to: festival(at)hikigali.com.