The Wound – Trailer – SFF 17

In this captivating look at African masculinity and sexuality, a young man is threatened when his deepest secret is discovered during a traditional male initiation ceremony. Xolani takes time off from his factory job to assist with the annual Xhosa circumcision ritual that marks the passage of teenage boys into manhood. Held in a secluded mountain camp where men gather to guide the initiates through the process and help them recuperate, this traditionalist, hyper-masculine world is shattered by Kwanda, a confident city-dweller who challenges the old ways. When Kwanda discovers that Xolani is in love with another man, he encourages Xolani to embrace his true self, instigating a personal crisis that has broad repercussions. In his striking debut film, director John Trengrove questions and subverts ideas of African masculinity, creating a sensitive and powerful film. A traditional rite of passage is the catalyst for exploring conflicting notions of what it means to be a man in The Wound, an assured first feature from writer-director John Trengove. The initial promise of a South African Brokeback Mountain broadens into a measured consideration of class, race, self-loathing and self-assertion in a compact but pleasingly complex drama. – Allan Hunter, ScreenDaily Trengove's film [is] sensitive to the hard taboo that homosexuality remains in black South African culture – The Wound's sexually frank depiction of which marks it as something of a milestone in the country's cinema. – Guy Lodge, Variety The 64th Sydney Film Festival – 7-18 June 2017 http://sff.org.au/   / sydneyfilmfestival     / sydfilmfest     / sydfilmfest   #sydfilmfest