Banished from Maseru, Lesotho, Molelekoa flees from the police. During the chase, other characters offer their thoughts on the city, as well as the nature of death and art.
LANGUAGE : Southern Sotho COUNTRY : Lesotho YEAR : 2024 DURATION : 21m DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, EDITOR : Moso Sematlane CINEMATOGRAPHER : Motikoe Khiba ASSISTANT CINEMATOGRAPHER : Katiso Hlabana SOUND DESIGNER : Refiloe Motsamai MUSIC : Mmatlali Matabane
Director Statement : The Banished One came as a result of me trying to articulate what I term as ‘the state of fracture’ that comes from living in Maseru; a city that for me is caught between the tensions of modernity and tradition. It was also created as a way to speak to the many artists I admire, mainly; David Lynch, Richard Linklater, Djibril Mambety, Ousmane Sembene, James Baldwin, and Frantz Fanon.
Bio : Moso Sematlane is a writer and filmmaker living in Maseru, Lesotho. He has showcased work at the Beijing International Short Film Festival as well as the Laceno D’oro International Film Festival. He serves as trustee and co-coordinator of the arts organisation, Majoaneng: Academy of Images and Letters. He also serves as curator, writer, and editor at Mamosetse: The New Magazine of Convergent Storytelling in Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
