A film probing the malady of child pregnancies is netting awards around the world, Best International Feature Award being the latest in the US
A Botswana-produced film called Dithunya tsa Rona has won Best International Feature Award in the United States, The Botswana Gazette has established.
The award was announced over the weekend from the Baltimore International Black Film Festival in the US, adding to a string of awards that the film has scooped in just four months since its release. Best Supporting Actress for Tshepie Olds and Best Emerging Filmmaker for Jenny Ledikwe are among other awards that Dithunya has netted.
The film was conceptualised by the Upright African Movement and written by Jenny Ledikwe. In it, a young social worker goes on a mission to solve the mystery surrounding child pregnancies. This lead role is played by Merciah Bonolo Moletsane who delivers a powerful performance as a survivor of sexual assault.
Perhaps the film’s secret weapon is its all-star supporting cast led by Botswana-born international actor, Donald Molosi, who gives an outstanding performance as a schoolteacher called Mr. Kago.
Molosi’s film career began in 2007 when he was cast in Green Zone opposite Matt Damon and has since had a career that included A United Kingdom opposite Academy Award winner Rosamund Pike. He was most recently in 2064, a queer love story that was nominated for the Grand Prix in Sweden and made the film eligible for an Oscar nomination.
In Dithunya, the award-winning Molosi plays a villain, which may surprise his fans who may not have seen the actor play dark characters before. “The cast is strong,” he says of Dithunya. “Since Folk Tale Casting was on the job, our cast was also 100 percent Batswana. When Jenny brought on an assistant director, Dithunya became even more powerful.”
Veteran actor Kgomotso Tshwenyego plays a supporting role as well. Like Molosi’s character, Tshwenyego plays a villain. Tshwenyego, who starred in No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency directed by Anthony Minghella, is no stranger to the big screen. In contrast to the maternal character she played as Ruth Khama’s (Rosamund Pike) midwife in A United Kingdom, Tshwenyego portrays an abusive grandmother in Dithunya.
Dithunya tsa Rona officially premiered at New Capitol Cinemas in Gaborone in June. The producers are in talks with Botswana Television for screening, particularly given its family-oriented themes.