MOTHER CITY
2024 • 1h 43m • Documentary
Availability
In-person
Available until Apr 29, 2027
Available Worldwide
Speakers Available
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About the film
Mother City charts a defiant war against government and property developers in one of the world’s most unequal cities. Cape Town, also known as the Mother City lies resplendent between the iconic Table Mountain and the icy Atlantic.
Our story starts in 2016 when the government sold prime land, meant for affordable housing, to a private developer. This careless disregard of desperate housing needs of Capetonians gave birth to the social justice movement, “Reclaim the City”. Through the deeply personal story of activist, Nkosikhona Swartbooi, Mother City follows, over 6 years, the David and Goliath battle in a city disfigured by spatial apartheid.
Stay Engaged
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560276947679
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mothercitydocumentary/
iMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32334177/
Website: https://www.mothercitydocumentary.com/
Contact us: contact@mothercitydocumentary.com
Director
Miki Redelinghuys, Pearlie Joubert
Producer
Kethiwe Ngcobo
Crew
Khalid Shamis, Barry Donnelly, Charl-Johan Lingenfelder & Edward George King, Nkosikhona Swartbooi, Zachariah Mashele, Tim Wege, Miki Redelinghuys, Pearlie Joubert
Awards & recognition
SHEFFIELD DOC FEST, 2024
Special Mention, International Competition
AFRICA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, NIGERIA - AFRIFF, 2024
Best African Documentary Award
FESPACO, 2025
Thomas Sankara Bronze Award
ARQUITECTURAS FILM FESTIVAL, PORTO, 2025
Right of the City Award
LADIMA ADIAHA AWARD
Best Film by an African Woman, 2025
KAFUKA AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL, CAPE VERDE, 2025
Best Documentary
BANTU FILM FESTIVAL, BOTSWANA, 2025
Best Documentary
ENCOUNTERS SA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL, 2024
Opening Night Film,; Special Mention AJE Best African Feature -Documentary; SAGE Award Best Editing - Special Mention
ZURICH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 2025
Official Selection
AFRICA FILM FESTIVAL, COLOGNE, 2024
Official Selection
AFRICA FILM FESTIVAL, HAMBURG, 2025
Official Selection
GÖTEBORG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 2025
Official Selection
MOVIES THAT MATTER, THE HAGUE, 2025
Official Selection - Activist Lens
FESTIVAL DES LIBERTÉ, BRUSSELS, 2025
Official Selection
ATEKER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Best Documentary Award
What people are saying
‘"... a hard-hitting and heartbreaking film that illuminates unsparingly how inequality in South Africa persists 30 years after democracy."‘
Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk
‘That long-term investment of staying on the story makes Mother City a beautifully observed, deeply human, multi-layered film with lots of depth.‘
Charles Leonard
‘Mother City has been selected as our opening film, as it represents the heart of what documentary film-making is about...Dedicated, tenacious, and vociferous in its approach.‘
Mandisa Zitha
Gallery
