Cimatheque to screen ‘I Am Not a Witch’, Zambian film debuts on Netflix

The globally acclaimed 'I Am Not a Witch' is considered Zambia's first movie to debut on Netflix. Originally premiered in May 2017, the movie's director Rungano Nyoni was inspired by actual stories of witchcraft accusations in Zambia. She also travelled to Ghana and spent time in a real witch camp to observe their daily life and rituals while performing research for the movie.

The Zambian movie 'I Am Not a Witch' is about an eight-year-old girl who is accused of being a witch. In the movie, when the little girl Shulu (played by Maggie Mulubwa) refuses to answer questions confirming or denying she is a witch she is brought to a witch doctor who sacrifices a chicken to determine whether she is a witch or not. Maggie Mulubwa earned the Outstanding Debut award at the 2018 BAFTA.

Here's the synopsis of 'I Am Not a Witch' – "Following a banal incident in her local village, eight-year-old Shula is accused of witchcraft. After a short trial, she is found guilty, taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp. At the camp, she takes part in an initiation ceremony where she is shown the rules surrounding her new life as a witch. Like the other residents, Shula is tied to a ribbon attached to a coil that perches on a large truck. She is told that should she ever cut the ribbon, she'd be cursed and transformed into a goat."

A review of the Sundance Film Festival elaborated the movie as 'gorgeously photographed and performed with resolute confidence, Nyoni's astounding work layers satire and social critique into a richly textured and refreshing take on institutional subjugation, and the film resonates with earth-shattering power'. Film centre Cimatheque in Downtown Cairo is also hosting the screening of Zambian film 'I am not a witch' on March 12, 2019 (time 7 pm to 9 pm). The movie will debut on Netflix.

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