South African Film Festival

We Are Zama Zama + Q&A

Expired May 24, 2022 1:45 PM
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In South Africa’s abandoned mines, men scrabble for gold, using hand hammers and bicycle head-lamps, often remaining underground for days, often without food. Their survival is dependent on their hands – and luck. They are gamblers, or Zama Zama, who hope to scrounge a living from exhausted veins despite crumbling mineshafts and criminal overlords because at home in Zimbabwe they have nothing, there is nothing. The video footage is shot by miners with GoPros and in spite of harrowing conditions, we see uplifting camaraderie, caring collaboration and inspiring good cheer, as we are taken into their subterranean lives, guided by director-producer-anthropologist Rosalind Morris. Above ground, they smile. Gangsters prey on them, and the women cough from the glass-like dust of the rocks they crush by hand. But still they smile. An extraordinary story of human endurance, not to be missed.

  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    73 minutes
  • Language
    Tswana, Ndebele, Sotho, Shona
  • Country
    South Africa
  • Rating
    All Ages
  • Director
    Rosalind Morris
  • Producer
    Rosalind Morris
  • Cinematographer
    Ebrahim Hajee
  • Editor
    Pascal Troemel
  • Sound Design
    Musa Radebe
  • Music
    Mar Heredia, Lee Salevan