First two acts are one of
my favorite dark comedies
of the year -- third act is one
of the most moving tragedies
of '17, and the final few scenes
are spectacularly surreal; the
social satire that 2017 needed.

An extremely confident debut from Rungano Nyoni full of wonder, humour, reflection and tragedy. The film looks wonderful too and cinematographer, David Gallego (Embrace of the Serpent), really makes the most of the sparse Zambian landscape. It cleverly plays with traditional gender politics (and not entirely focused on women) to open discussion about respectability and marriage, lineage and how those accused of witchcraft are so easily discarded and branded for life, based on little more than a hunch. All done without resorting to cliched African poverty porn. This is a director to keep on eye on if this is anything to go by. Highly recommend.

You are now becoming civil witches.

I Am Not a Witch's impeccable composition and brilliantly sparse soundtrack help the film maintain its delicate balance between tragedy and comedy, though it certainly opts for the former toward the end.

Definitely worth a watch.

Beautiful, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

❤️

TIFF 2017: Film #5

A wonderfully surreal and tragic satire. Every scene is full of remarkably bold choices they pay off hugely. This was such a confident and captivating film, that I was genuinely shell shocked to learn that it was a feature debut. I Am Not a Witch is sure to fly under most peoples radars but it deserves the attention of every film fan looking for a profound and counter-intuitive example of original independent filmmaking. I am a mess from the last few frames of this film.

Extra points for simply being an African-set film that isn't just about how horrible things are in Africa.

Bureaucracy, childhood, tradition, modernity, the patriarchy and maybe more than it can chew are all on the table. They're deconstructed and quietly lampooned. The satire and otherworldly opening and end sections are brilliant. The story kind of gets lost on its way between the two, but it's an unexpected and inventive delight.

Gutwretchingly funny. I think that is the best explanation for this extremely smart movie. It understands that painful stupidity is not an easy digestible matter.

I can't quite get a grasp how I feel about this and someone needs to tell me what happened (for sure) in the end. Funny and disturbing and the same time, if not infuriating altogether.

Interesting 

More to come.....

Not sure I fully understood this but definitely enjoyed it. That final image of the truck with all the ribbons blowing in the wind was incredible.

More sublime the second time around. The camera feels like a hovering presence sometimes, like another force is watching.
Those shots those wonderful shots!!

An arbitrary incident leads to villagers pointing to young Shula and accusing her of being a witch. She's placed in a "refuge" for Witches and becomes attached to a long ribbon. A ribbon she must not remove or else she'll turn into a goat.

Beautiful film with a an aura of magic realism, some laughs and some quite emotional moments.

Good stuff amongst the junk that usually gets enjoyed.