Many of the headlines celebrating Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection say that the film is debuting at the Sundance Film Festival at the end of January.

While the film is Mosese’s debut in fiction feature-length writing, Sundance is not the first festival to screen it.

It appeared at the 2019 Venice Biennale, where it was described as a “welcome and necessary…challenge to Western film language”.

Here’s Sundance with a summary of the story:

In the mountains of Lesotho, an 80-year-old widow named Mantoa eagerly awaits her son’s return from working in the South African mines, only to learn of his demise instead. Yearning for her own death after the loss of her last remaining family member, she puts her affairs in order and makes arrangements to be buried in the local cemetery.

Her careful plans are abruptly upset by the news that provincial officials intend to resettle the village, flood the entire area, and build a dam for a reservoir. Mantoa resolves herself to defend the spiritual heritage of the community.

Sounds like powerful stuff. It’s also beautifully filmed. Check out the trailer:

The film is one of 12 selected to screen under Sundance’s coveted World Cinema Dramatic Competition, with other films coming from France, Iran, Mexico, and Germany.

It’s also the first film from Lesotho to ever compete at the festival.

This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection will screen at Sundance from January 24 (today) through to February 1.

[source:sundance]