ENCOUNTERS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL SHORTS BLOCK: UNLEARNING THE SCRIPT. Sonder directed by Thuthuka Sibisi; Before They Sold The Sky directed by Kai Reynolds; Amigo the Griot directed by Kurt Oderson and Mario Laaistock.
JORDAN OSMAN reviews
The Encounters documentary film festival is currently underway in Cape Town and Johannesburg and is showcasing 58 documentaries from across the globe in select cinemas from 4-14 June 2026. For further information about the festival click here.
Encounters features 31 short films which are grouped together in ‘Shorts Block’ screenings of 3-6 films shown back-to-back. With these short films ranging in length from 8-38 minutes, each ‘Shorts Block’ groups films that cover thematically similar content for a total runtime of around 1-1.5 hours per screening.
These are not your run-of-the-mill documentaries that see aristocratic British voices recite sterile Wikipedia pages over related imagery. No, these are personal – often interpersonal – expressions, journeys, and reflections of experiences, events, and issues on a very human level.
Encounters’ Unlearning the Script is a Shorts Block featuring Sonder (dir. Thuthuka Sibisi), Before They Sold The Sky (dir. Kai Reynolds), and Amigo The Griot (dir. Kurt Oderson and Mario Laaistock) – locally made documentaries that, broadly speaking, deal with concepts of identity and memory that have been historically contested, supressed, and/or forcibly rewritten in South Africa.
Thuthuka Sibisi’s Sonder explores the suppression of queer identity for Black Zulu men living in Johannesburg’s hostels. Brought together by a stifling post-apartheid economic climate, many Zulu men travel to the city of Joburg from far and wide in order to work and provide for both themselves and their families. The documentary explores the sense of community and society that emerges from these crowded conditions.
The bonds between men are close in the hostels; everyone is expected to look out for each other and a hierarchical but seemingly balanced social system has developed to ensure cooperation and peace.
But not for all.
Using a combination of conventional interviews, unconventional audio snippets, and captivating choreography Sonder explores the layered social fabric of these hostels, revealing generational violence and extreme prejudice towards queer individuals within Zulu culture.
Sonder’s subtle but deliberate storytelling is a fantastic testament to the capabilities of the South African film industry.
An aesthetic look at the emotional legacy and memory of District 6 on both an intimate and historical level, Before They Sold The Sky sees a creative blend of individual experiences with historical research that is both visually stunning and emotionally captivating.
The broader topic of District 6 is made intimate through interviews with director Kai Reynold’s grandparents, Jane and Gilbert Lawrence, whose reflections of their time in District 6 are both captivating and tragically endearing. These personal stories and experiences are quite literally mapped on to the historical site in conjunction with cartographical research from civil engineering Professor Siddique Motala. Motala’s historical research synthesises decades of information regarding the cartography and topography of Cape Town going back to the 1800s.
The abrupt erasure of their decades-old family home is made all the more affective and moving after hearing the Lawrences’ reflections. The documentary shows how cartography can be used to reclaim the memories of the space, ensuring that the legacies of the cultures, the people, and most importantly the memories are preserved.
The film omits the kind of sensationalism that so often follows accounts of traumatic events. Rather than describe death and destruction; it shows you the green graveyard of District 6 that lies, as Gilbert Lawrence puts as “fallow”, where each individual’s story stands as a tombstone of what once was.
Before They Sold The Sky is worth seeing for its moving narrative and complimentary cinematography that balances its intimate interview setting with the majestic and verdant landscapes of Cape Town.
Amigo the Griot is a uniquely personal depiction of the blind, Afrikaans hip-hop artist Mario “Amigo” Laaistock. Although the film does touch on the kinds of facts expected from a ‘biopic’ such as Amigo’s background in Eersterivier, his blindness, and world views, it also strives to show, rather than describe, the kind of person that Amigo is through inventive imagery and music.
If one is not familiar with Amigo or what a ‘griot’ is, then the first five or so minutes of the film will be interesting but a bit disorientating as the general direction of the film is slightly ambiguous. The rejection of conventional documentary norms does work against its legibility initially but as the film progresses it presents more as an artistic pastiche of Amigo, his magnetic personality, identity, and effortless lyrical flow.
For anyone interested in learning more about local hip-hop or are curious about this extraordinary man and want to hear powerful lyrics and locally produced music, Amigo the Griot will deliver in spades.
There is a level of visual artistry to all three of these shorts, each unique and creative in their own way, that truly makes this block worth seeing. This block will be showing again on 11 June 2026 at Ster-Kinekor Rosebank Nouveau.
What: Encounters Documentary Film Festival Shorts Block: Unlearning the Script
Where and when: Ster-Kinekor Rosebank Nouveau on 11 June 2026
Full programme and tickets available: https://encounters.co.za
WS
