Bunny Chow screening with Meokgo and the Stick Fighter Series: The 15th Annual New York African Film Festival [April 9-April 15]
Bunny Chow
John Barker, South Africa, 2006; 95m. In Afrikaans, Tsotsi Taal and English Bunny Chow, part of The Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens 2008 series, follows the raucous and often ridiculous weekend journey of three stand-up comedians. Egos run high and careers are at stake as Kags, an arrogant womanizer; Joey, a devout yet conflicted Muslim; and Dave, a somewhat innocent novice with dreams of making it big on the comedy scene, embark on a road trip to Oppikoppi, South Africa’s biggest annual rock festival. The trio slip out of their normal lives for a few dusty and increasingly absurd days with hopes of mass debauchery, drugs, rampant sex, true love and conquering the rock stages with their comedy. They get a bit more than they bargained for. Bunny Chow is screening courtesy of The Global Film Initiative.
screening with
Meokgo and the Stick Fighter
Teboho Mahlatsi, South Africa/Lesotho, 2006; 19m. In Sotho
This visually enchanting and dream-like film tells the mythical story of Kgotso, a solitary young stick fighter. It is whispered by the villagers that his mother died in childbirth. The healer who raised him also died when he was only eight, bequeathing him a concertina, which he plays to bring about his only joy in life. Hired by the farmers to protect their sheep, Kgotso amuses himself during his watch by playing his beloved instrument, until one day his performance unwittingly calls about the spirit of a woman whose body lies motionless as her soul is held in the captivity of a Mokgodutswane, an evil horseman. Moved by human love for the first time since he was a boy, Kgotso sets out on a brave adventure to save the mysterious woman.
