DiS Film Discussion Club #6: I Am Not A Witch (2017)

Did you guys find it funny? I was proper pissing myself at a few bits.

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I laughed at the bit with the phone going off in the trial

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I thought this was excellent.

Really enjoyed the opening ten minutes with the female police officer interviewing the woman, Shula and that guy who comes in through the window.

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Added to Netflix today, FYI

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oh nice! no excuse now, get on it y’all

This is now on Netflix

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:man_facepalming:

The scene with Le Tournoi was great.

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Oh hey, looks like I still dont read threads

Excuse my possible misuse of terms, I don’t really know if I am using things technically correct.

I loved the cinematography, so many of the choices of shot I think did a lot to add to the idea of Shula being on show but in a way that made it feel like it was a more personal window onto her feelings than the view other characters were having. Probably not conveying what I mean very well.

There were a few bits I might have laughed at, but the weight of feeling for how wrong it was for a girl to be a slave like that made it hard to.

Aside from the obvious impact of the ending, a few moments are really sticking with me: when she was listening to the schoolchildren playing, when the tv studio camera focused on her, and when she abruptly gets dragged from school.

Really glad I watched it, thanks for picking it eric. I will try actually watch more of the film club films, hopefully go back and watch some I missed too.

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glad you liked it! yep thought the cinematography was great too. the lead girl is amazing and she’s a total amateur as far as i know so to be able to get away with just keeping her front and centre for long periods of time was pretty amazing.

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there’s a bit where tourists are looking at Shula, and one obnoxiously thinks she is being friendly by asking for a photo with her, not realising it’s having the opposite effect and it really reminded me of another film I can’t place.

anyone have any ideas?

hmm dunno. didnt think that bit came off to well though personally, was a bit heavy handed satire.

Yeah i agree, it was a bit too obvious. Just really brought something to mind…maybe it wasnt anything specific but just a bit of a trope

I thought it was good. definitely way more satire than I was expecting, I thought it would be pure misery from start to finish. the truck with the ribbons is a really potent image

anyone know anything about ‘real’ witches in zambia?

this was a bit of an issue for me as well

would be quite interested to know how realistic the portrayal of witches is. the comedic tone made it a little unreliable in that sense

this is worth a read for a bit of context

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Just got round to this. Holy shit what a film.

Beautiful to look at, truly stunning imagery. Very funny in places but very poignant and thought provoking with it.

The disparity between modernisation and tradition in many African nations is really, really stark and I think this film dealt with that in a really interesting way. Just one of the many, many ways that colonialism has negatively affected these places is the way it hasn’t allowed for any kind of transition between the two so you now have these polar opposite lifestyles and ethoses living alongside each other. It’s something I’ve witnessed first hand and it is as surreal and difficult to contend with as the film expressed it to be.

Going to be thinking about this for a while I think.

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This year, Loveless and The Square both had some pretty on the nose ‘people using smartphones as a metaphor for society and stuff’ moments - could it have been one of them?

nahh it wasnt, only seen Loveless of those. it might just be a trope that seems familiar. but now reflecting on itz theres definitely something. it might not be a smartphone based thing but more someone witnessing but not stopping something. hmmm