I Am Not a Witch
directed by Rungano Nyoni, United Kingdom/France 2017, 90' (English friendly)
Rungano Nyoni and her dark fairy tale which takes place in Zambia received a standing ovation which lasted a dozen or so minutes after the screening in Cannes.
Recognized as a witch and being an orphan vulnerable to accusations, a nine-year-old Shula is sent to a witch camp. Excluded from the community, isolated women are forced to work hard and are treated as a tourist attraction. Each witch has a white sash attached to her back - so that she cannot fly away.
In the film, such a sash is realism, by the force of which the fairy-tale, magical world never loses its connection with reality. Perfectly dosed exotics and homeliness, symbolism and customary factuality, and a large measure of poetry, a pinch of humour and the phenomenal little Maggie Mulubwa in the main role - all this creates a magical film mixture, working for a long time after leaving the cinema.
