South African film, “Four Walls” will join the slate of 22 North-American and 50 world films at the Oscar-qualifying Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF).
The series will screen as a feature film at the Los Angeles showcase of “Black creative work” on Friday, February 17.
Starring South African actress Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa, the series is co-directed by local creators Juvaiś Dunn, Menzi Mzimela and Kgosana Monchusi, and shines the spotlight on the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa.
It follows a married nurse, Grace Molotsi (Mlotshwa).
Grace is at her wits end when her house is invaded by two thugs, played by Khulu Skenjana and Jeff Jackson, on the run from the cops after a cash in transit robbery gone wrong.
The helpless woman is taken hostage by the thugs while they’re planning their next move. What the men don’t know is that Grace has a secret of her own.
PAFF is one of the largest and most prestigious black film festivals in the US and attracts local, national, and international audiences.
Director, producer and writer, Monchusi said: “The Pan African Film Festival is the flagship black film festival in the world, so to be selected into such a prestigious festival and represent South Africa is a true honour. We can’t wait to touch down and share ‘Four Walls’ with the audiences”.
Speaking to IOL Entertainment in a previous interview, Mbali Mlotshwa said, “Almost every single day a South African woman suffers some form of abuse, so this is me telling the stories of the women I've spoken to, through the Enhle Cares Foundation.
“I took from all of those women’s experiences and tried as best as I could to create a story that's truthful, a story that represents women who are going through the most concerning GBV.”
Last year, “Four Walls” premiered at the Northeast International Film Festival in the United Kingdom and The Africa Rising International Film Festival, continuing the successful run, it was selected to run at the Joburg Film Festival before heading to the Buenos Aires International Web Series Festival (BUEIFF) in June.
Watch the trailer below.