Sky's the limit

The deadly disease is never mentioned in the film. But the South African director Madoda Ncayiyana's film Izulu Lami (My Secret Sky) forcefully conveys the plight of the thousands of children orphaned by the HIV/Aids pandemic in Africa.

His poignant, heart wrenching story depicts the struggles of 10-year-old Tembi and her younger brother Kwezi after they are orphaned. With great sensitivity, the director has depicted the innocence and beauty of the children, their vulnerability and also their undying spirit.

The film had its world premiere at DIFF 2008 and is in the competition for the Muhr Awards for Excellence in Asia Africa Cinema — Narrative Feature.

Hope to all children

"With the growing number of Aids orphans, the resources of the community are saturated leaving so many children to fend for themselves and thus extremely vulnerable to exploitation. I made this film to make people around the world aware of this important issue. But by showing how the children overcome the problems they face, I also wanted to give hope to all children in similar situations," says Ncayiyana.

"I have deliberately not mentioned HIV/ Aids in the film. I want my viewers to read between the lines and understand the terrible situation," he adds.

Ncayiyana began his career in theatre and TV. He is a well-known documentary maker and his last film, The Sky in Her Eyes won the award for Best African Short Film at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. That film was also about orphans and is the inspiration behind Izulu Lami, his first feature film.

"Unlike most directors, I love to work with children and animals," he says.

"For this film I wanted to cast children with no acting experience because I wanted the honesty of the characters to show through. Rather than doing auditions, I held workshops in schools all around Durban. My actors emerged from the many children who attended the workshops and most of them are from underprivileged backgrounds and some are orphans."

Yet the director believes that all the children who attended benefited from the workshops because they got an opportunity to express themselves and to better empathise with their friends and neighbours going through similar situations.

Wonderful

He is excited to premiere his film in Dubai. "It has been wonderful to see that audiences of all nationalities have been moved by my film. It has taken me five long years to find the funding and to make this film.

"Showing it to an international audience means a lot to me. And if my film wins the Muhr Award, it would be wonderful for me, my country and this important issue.

'But more than anything else it would be a win for all those children who are suffering and the children who acted in this film," says Ncayiyana.

The plot

Izulu Lami is the story of 10-year- old Tembi and her 8-year-old brother, Kwezi. After they lose their mother and their aunt sells off all the family's belongings, the children are left with nothing except a traditional Zulu mat that their mother had woven in the hope of winning some money in a handicraft competition.

Taking their destiny into their own hands, the children go to Durban with their only possession to look for the priest who can help them to enter the contest. In the big city they befriend other orphans surviving on the streets and encounter various terrible situations, including an attempted rape.

But their resilience and their faith that their mother is watching over them help them to survive.