By Nkhensani Mthombeni
- Murena Netshitagana’s film Lubunyu wins Best African Film at the Cannes Festival for the month of March.
- The Venda filmmaker hopes to compete for the grand title at Cannes in France this June and seeks funding support.
Murena Netshitagana from Venda, Limpopo, has won Best African Film at the Cannes Film Festival in France for the month of March.
His film, Lubunyu, beat the highly rated Nigerian movie My Father’s Shadow, which many expected to win.
Murena told Scrolla.Africa that winning the award means everything to him. “It solidifies that I am on the right path,” he said.
He admitted there was a time when he doubted himself after facing serious challenges and delays in his work. “The recognition is the biggest reward,” he said.
Lubunyu means “naked intruder” and was inspired by a haunting real-life experience from Murena’s childhood in Hakhakhu Village outside Venda.
“There was a mysterious figure known as Lubunyu who terrorised women in the area,” he said.
“One night, I asked my sister Tshifaro to accompany me to fetch water in the kitchen. We met a dark, frightening and naked man. We screamed, he pushed my sister aside, jumped over me and fled.”
The memory stayed with him. As he grew up, he saw a link between that night and the reality of gender-based violence in the country.
“I felt a deep responsibility to revisit the traumatic memory and transform it into a powerful narrative,” he said.
Lubunyu is also about justice, and how fear, revenge and social pressure can distort it. In the film, the real intruder hides in plain sight while an innocent man is blamed.
Murena is hoping to travel to France in June, where he will compete for the grand title at Cannes. He is appealing to the government and organisations to help fund his trip.
Last year, his film The Duality won Overall Best Film at the Tshwane University of Technology’s film department. The award, sponsored by the Joburg Film Festival, allowed him to showcase his film at the festival on 14 March.
Murena is currently completing his master’s degree in filmmaking at AFDA, majoring in scriptwriting.
Pictured above: Murena Netshitagana receives Best Film for TUT 2024.
Image source: Supplied by Murena Netshitagana
