Synopsis: Imbamba (Uthunyiwe) is an account of black dislocation/sorrow. Through a sound-performance relation in an urban setting, it interrogates the idea of messianic (holy) aesthetics, by way of thinking the Maskandian music form. It makes sense of Maskandian form and its bearing on social decay, its bearing on the contradictory nature of popular culture, politics and the market place. Ultimately, Imbamba (uthunyiwe) is a mode of asking and addressing the seemingly an un-answerable question, ie. whether or not music can condition the possibility or expresses the limits of liberation from politico-cultural domination..
Director Staement: Some songs emerge and find a Maskandi, for instance. They are the Maskandi – not because they want to sound Zulu in remote Kwa-Zulhostu-Natal or at a taxi rank or in a hostel. The hostel and the taxi rank are part of their history, to be sure. An inescapable history that they will want to forget, since a hostel or the rank are a constant reminder of the fact that they emerge from the cracks of life: the ‘urban setting’.
Director: Gabe Letswalo
Writer: Gabe Letswalo, Sive Mqikela
Producer: Gabe Letswalo, Sive Mqikela, Mbe Mbhele
Key Cast: Manyathela Mvelase, Bheki Khoza, Sibusiso Mbhele
Country of Origin: South Africa
Country of Filming: South Africa
Language: English, Zulu
Subtitles: English
Runtime: 00:08:36
Gabe Letswalo
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