The local documentary District Six Rising from the Dust has been hailed with its fourth international award, this time winning the prize for Best Documentary at the Wales International Film Festival.
The film is produced and distributed by Tribal Alchemy Productions, directed by Weaam Williams and cinematographer Nafia Kocks.
Weaam says the achievement is extra special to them as South Africa commemorates Heritage Month and District Six being synonymous with the ancestral heritage of hundreds of thousands of mense across the Cape.
District Six Rising from the Dust was produced over a period of six years and documents Weaam’s journey as she returns to Die Ses after her family lost all of their land and businesses under the Apartheid Group Areas Act.
Weaam says: “I am profoundly humbled and honoured at this acknowledgement coming from international shores, I must admit there were some serious contenders in the Best Documentary category, and being nominated among such great filmmakers from all around the world was indeed an achievement.”
She says an expat actually encouraged her to enter her doccie at the Wales International Film Festival.
“At the beginning of this year, I received a number of emails from the UK, from interested audience members who wanted to watch the film at a UK festival.
“One of them is an expat called Sophie Talbot, who reached out to me and suggested I submit to the Wales International Film Festival, because of their solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
“Ms Talbot is emotionally tied to South Africa and District Six, as it is where her mother is from,” explains Weaam.
Currently, the film is a part of the Library Collections at Edinburgh University, Duke University and University of Toronto.
Weaam adds the doccie will become available to a larger audience “when the right offer is made”.