NEWS: Cinema jacks up security ahead of ‘Inxeba’ screenings
Protests expected as movie about Xhosa initiation hits screens countrywide
SECURITY has been jacked up at Port Elizabeth’s Walmer Park shopping centre ahead of the release of controversial film Inxeba – also known as The Wound – as several groups have threatened to picket and boycott its screening.
The film depicts the traditional ritual of ukwaluka – a Xhosa tradition into manhood – as well as sexual identity in the form of a gay love story.
Despite the backlash and initiation forum threats, producer Elias Ribeiro said it was important to showcase the rich untold stories of the country.
“We have had a positive response from many people in the Xhosa community who feel the movie was well presented, but there have also been people from a conservative perspective who are upset.”
“We couldn’t be more excited about [today] – it has been long coming and it was a very hard decision to make to write this story,” he said.
Set on the outskirts of Queenstown, the film portrays a love story among men and their coming of age in the psychological thriller format.
“There’s a lack of representation of black queer movies in the cinema, especially of this calibre.
“It is a film that talks about toxic masculinity, patriarchy and love between men, as well as the consequences of not living authentically.”
Referring to the possibility of a boycott at Walmer Park’s NuMetro cinema, Ribeiro said: “I feel very upset because to have people behave in this way against an artist’s expression in 2018 is unfortunate.
“I think people have the right to be upset, but they do not have the right to be violent and damage cinemas that have nothing to do with the filmmaking process – they are just the middleman.”
He said the initial plan was not to release the film in the Eastern Cape as various cinemas feared violence.
Walmer Park NuMetro cinema manager Mark Whitnall said the centre’s security had been beefed up and was prepared for any acts of defiance.
“The Initiation Forum of the Eastern Cape has taken action on its part to try to stop people from watching the movie, but we are under contract to show it.
“Centre management and security are aware of the boycott and there are plans in place to prevent anything violent from happening,” he said.
Whitnall said he did not want any action directed at shoppers or the cinema.
“We are aware of the controversy in the movie but we are not the only cinema showing this movie – it is being [shown] nationwide in all cinemas.
The film will also be released today at Hemingways Mall NuMetro in East London where House of Traditional Leaders provincial chairman Mwelo Nonkonyana said there would be a picket in a bid to halt viewing.
“We have instructed our lawyers to prepare an interdict against the screening of the film in Buffalo City because the making of this film shows a distorted reality of our customs,” Nonkonyana said.
“When boys go into the mountains they won’t even tell their mother what happened there because of the [privacy] of the customs.
“We have found that this movie is scandalising our customs for the pockets of the filmmakers.
“It is a distortion of what is actually happening when these boys go to the mountain,” he said.
People have the right to be upset, but . . . not the right to be violent