One of only 10 documentaries from around the world to screen at the Socially Relevant Film Festival in New York earlier this year, Lost Tongue highlights the importance of identity and culture.
Directed by Zimbabwean-born Davison Mudzingwa, Lost Tongue is a debut feature from Johannesburg-based Mvura Ya Afrika (MYA) Productions, which presents a story of hope through the attempted revival of an ancient and endangered N!uu language of the marginalised indigenous Khomani San people in the Kalahari.
The documentary follows Helena Steenkamp, a Khomani San woman from the Kalahari, as she embarks on a mission to revive the N!uu language of her people.
Mudzingwa, who previously directed the documentary What’s the Frack?, says that the idea for Lost Tongue came to him when he was in the Kalahari filming Bush Trail (2012). “As virgins in the place, we had some fantastical expectations of what it would be, including the San people there, in this instance, the Khomani San. We expected them to be wearing the traditional clothes like we saw on TV, you know that stereotypical view. It wasn’t like that. More shocking was their way of life and language. The people communicated in Afrikaans. This shocked me and it didn’t feel right.”
Surprised that the Khomani San people did not speak their language or follow their traditional culture, Mudzingwa and his crew began investigating the reasons behind these phenomena and “a new, exciting and surprising journey for Lost Tongue began,” he says.
Described by Mudzingwa as “a documentary that feels like a God-sent assignment,” he and producers Francis Yannicq Hweshe (SA) and MeSun Barnett (USA) met Steenkamp – the main character in the documentary who drives the story – while in the Kalahari brainstorming how exactly to tackle the project. “She was at a point in her life when she was beginning to question her own identity. She wanted answers on why she had Afrikaans names, why she spoke Afrikaans. She wanted to know from elders on what went wrong in the past,” Mudzingwa explains. “We followed this journey for three years and met other incredible characters who brought the depth we didn’t anticipate in the beginning. The documentary shaped itself.”
The cinematography in Lost Tongue encompasses “a combination of a more natural way of shooting and allegory,” says Mudzingwa. “We wanted to get as much actuality as possible. However, we decided from the start that we wanted to have a parallel visual narrative that would bring out some issues that are not said in words… Our visuals are highly allegorical, so has a folk tale element to it. We wanted to showcase the Kalahari in a 360 degree view. We wanted to veer away from some stereotypical documentaries we have seen of the San and the Kalahari. They have a way of portraying the San people, often forcing elements to achieve this. We didn’t want to force anything. We worked hard to be part of the community and tell a real story.”
From 2012 to November 2015 Lost Tongue was filmed predominantly in the Khomani San community of Andriesval in the Kalahari Desert and on the border with neighbouring Botswana and Namibia. Other scenes were photographed in Upington, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Director of photography Themba Vilakazi shot the documentary using the Canon FX100, which Mudzingwa says was chosen for its impressive HD quality as well as to achieve the desired, more natural feel: “They are handy cameras and subjects do not feel any intrusion.” Aerial shots were captured using a drone.
According to Hweshe, the South African producer on the project, Lost Tongue was shot on a “shoe-string budget of under R2.5 million” and largely funded by MYA Productions as well as by the non-profit organisation Entrepreneurship Africa. “We had a small band of passionate folks who stepped forward and invested their time and skills to ensure the project was completed and shared with the world,” says Hweshe.
Upon premiering in New York City at the Socially Relevant Film Festival in March 2016, Lost Tongue scooped the prestigious Women Film Critics Circle Award. The documentary will have its African premiere at the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival and will also screen at the Durban International Film Festival, both taking place in June 2016.
Striving to drive home the universal themes of identity and culture, Lost Tongue is a film that will resonate with every human being. The film unpacks the tough, yet imperative questions that plague us all in an increasingly globalised world. “We constantly ask ourselves who we are and where we come from. This film, although rooted in the Kalahari, is a great opportunity and conduit for everyone in the world to start asking questions about their own identity and culture. It is a kind of film that anyone can watch and feel connected to,” concludes Mudzingwa.
