Babalwa Baartman

The 43rd edition screens Neighbors, with five segments about the theme “neighbors”: not only about physical proximity, but also about relationships. In Brazil, Olga is a 90-year-old black woman who lost her husband one year ago; her neighbors, who come from different parts of the world, interrupt her grief. In Russia, an employee tries so hard to please his boss that he becomes inconvenient. An Indian woman, with the help of her male friend, decides to learn how to drive, an uncommon practice for women in the country. In China, an elderly, owner of an old and decadent barbershop, argues with his son, who wants to change the business. In South Africa, a group of homeless fights for the right to housing.

Persistence pays off when an unashamed young girl leaning to dive is unperturbed by a talented diver who steals the spotlight.

In post-apartheid South Africa, Tsidi, a single mother, is forced to move in with her own estranged mother Mavis, a live-in domestic worker caring obsessively for her catatonic white ‘Madam’. And as Tsidi tries to heal her family, a sinister spectre begins to stir.