I Am Not a Witch
Directed by Rungano Nyoni
Zambia/UK/Wales and more | 2018 | Fiction | 91 min | Nyanja w/English subtitles
Film Source: Film Movement
Sponsor: The Caroline Baird Crichfield Fund for Women in Need; Co-sponsor: Middlebury College
Also showing Saturday, October 20 at 2:15PM
This marvelous magic-realist feminist film is both an allegory and a satire. Shot in Zambia but set in a non-descript African country, I Am Not a Witch focuses on Shula, an 8-year-old girl who is accused of witchcraft, after which she is taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp. Full of intentionally absurd scenes, this lush, light, poetic film provides an unflinching look at the clash between modern and traditional ways of living. It ends with a prime example of visual storytelling at its best. ~ OY