Audience Award for Leaving Mandela Park by director Saskia Vredeveld at the Russian Anthropological Film Festival (RAFF) in Yekaterinburg.

Leaving Mandela Park is a kaleidoscopic documentary about children's dreams in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa. It tells the story of five children with a remarkable drive to escape their bleak reality.

Guava is eight years old when he leaves his parental home because he sees no future in his village. Someone discovers his singing talent, and now he performs and sells his CDs to the public on the street. Cynthia lives in a neighborhood where gangs shoot at each other. She plays the saxophone, trying to shut herself off from the temptations of the street. Pinky studies hard to realize her dream—a house of stone—and she dances classical ballet to lighten her life. Music and dance prove to be the means of survival for these children.

Their dreams do not stand alone. They form a metaphor for the hopeful future of a generation trying to pull itself out of a quagmire of poverty and violence. Leaving Mandela Park shows the miraculous resilience and zest for life of these children.

Location
Jekaterinenburg, Rusland



How to respond / more information
You must log in to respond