Days of Cannibalism

In his hybrid documentary films, Teboho Edkins explores different cinematic genres. His “controlled” or “directed” reality is often shot and edited as one would a feature film, and his camera work reveals a keen sense for absurd situations. After a series of documentary-gangster films about South Africa, he has now turned his attention to the barren canyons of the Thaba-Tseka district in sparsely populated eastern Lesotho. Reminiscent of the “big country” of classic US Westerns, this landscape becomes the backdrop for a series of conflicts that erupt between the pioneers of a new, capitalist order – ambitious Chinese traders hoping to make a fortune far away from home – and the Basotho, traditional cattle breeders who revere cows as “gods with wet noses”. Former miners hope at least to find a poorly paid job in the employ of the Chinese entrepreneurs in order to avoid a life of crime, but the language barrier reveals other, deeper problems of communication. As is so often the case, it is all a question of assimilation, and what happens to old rules in new circumstances. A film that scrutinises globalisation.
by Teboho Edkins France / South Africa / Netherlands 2020 Sesotho, Mandarin, English 78’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Written and Directed by Teboho Edkins
Cinematography Samuel Lahu
Editing Laurence Manheimer, Cédric Le Floc'h
Sound Design Jaim Sahuleka
Producer Janja Kralj
Co-Producers Don Edkins, Derk-Jan Warrink, Koji Nelissen
Co-Production Days Zero Films Kapstadt
Keplerfilm Amsterdam

Teboho Edkins

Born in Tennessee, USA in 1980, he grew up in Lesotho and South Africa and now lives in Cape Town and Berlin. He studied photography and fine art at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town and film at Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing, France. He then took a directing degree at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. His films have screened at over 400 festivals and have also been presented in group and solo exhibitions, including at the Centre Pompidou, the Tate Modern and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. In 2015, his film Coming of Age screened in Generation.

Filmography

2004 Ask Me I'm Positive; documentary 2005 Looking Good; documentary · True Love; short film 2007 Gangster Project 1; short film 2008 Kinshasa 2.0; short film 2011 Thato; Kurzfilm · Gangster Project; documentary 2013 Gangster Backstage; short film 2015 Coming of Age; documentary, Generation 2016 Initiation; short film 2017 I am Sheriff; short film 2020 Days of Cannibalism; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020