The Wound

Synopsis

This South African drama tells the story of Kwanda, a young city man who is taken back to his father’s rural village to undergo an initiation designed to toughen him up and turn him into a “real man”. The procedure begins with a ritual circumcision and takes place over several subsequent weeks as the wounds heal and the young men “prove themselves”. During this process, full of long-standing traditions as well as intense displays of hyper-masculinity, the closeted man finds comfort and support in Xolani, a local male caregiver who returns to the village every year with the purpose of rekindling his romance with his closest childhood friend, Vija. Taut, unsettling and engrossing, this is a fascinating, culturally sensitive look at a disturbing practice that continues to exist.