Transactions
by Rumbi Katedza and Siza Mukwedini
2022, Zimbabwe, 52 mins
12:15 pm on Sept 23, 2022
PG
About the movie
English— Transactions tells a story of Zimbabwean migration through a family divided by the circumstances of a failed economy. Three siblings – Frank, Miles and Portia – sustain their family through remittances, while longing for the country and family they left behind. Their mother, MaMlilo, is a conduit of all the family’s challenges in hyper-inflationary Zimbabwe. When the Covid-19 pandemic leads to hard lockdowns in South Africa and Zimbabwe, life becomes increasingly difficult. How ill this family cope in these difficult times?
Française—Transactions raconte l’histoire de la migration des Zimbabwéens à travers une famille divisée par les circonstances d’une économie en faillite. Trois frères et sœurs – Frank, Miles et Portia – font vivre leur famille grâce aux envois de fonds, tout en se languissant du pays et de la famille qu’ils ont laissés derrière eux. Leur mère, MaMlilo, est le vecteur de tous les problèmes de la famille dans le Zimbabwe hyperinflationniste. Lorsque la pandémie de Covid-19 entraîne des blocages durs en Afrique du Sud et au Zimbabwe, la vie devient de plus en plus difficile. Comment cette famille s’en sort-elle en ces temps difficiles ?
About the director
English — Rumbi Katedza has directed numerous shorts, music videos, TV shows and documentaries that have been broadcast across Africa and screened at dozens of international festivals and conferences. Her feature film, Playing Warriors, was nominated for awards at the African Movie Academy Awards, Shungu Namutitiwa Festival and Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles amongst others. Rumbi produces corporate and independent narrative and documentary content through her production company Mai Jai Films. Her documentary credits include Marange Voices, about communities adversely affected by the diamond rush in Zimbabwe, and The Axe and the Tree, about survivors of post-election violence, which was launched by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in 2011. Rumbi is a former Festival Director of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. She was the Manyika Fellow at Hutchins Center for African and African American Research in 2019 and an Honorary Fellow at the The Film Study Center at Harvard University 2019-2020.