This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection 2019

Amongst the immense mountains of the tiny Kingdom of Lesotho, landlocked by South Africa, an 80-year-old widow winds up her earthly affairs, makes arrangements for her burial and prepares to die. But when her village is threatened with forced resettlement due to the construction of a reservoir, she finds a new will to live and ignites a collective spirit of defiance within her community. In the final dramatic moments of her life, Mantoa’s legend is forged and made eternal.

Writer/director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese crafts a striking though gentle meditation on life, death, and the power of the human spirit. Actress Mary Twala Mhlongo, who sadly passed away in June this year, commands the screen, beautifully portraying a woman fighting her last and most important battle. This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection creates an ode to a way of life perhaps soon to disappear in the name of progress and guides us through a world where the dead co-exist with the living.

Critics Circle Piece

Notes Unbound is our platform for up-and-coming African and Black diaspora film critics and journalists from around the globe to deepen their knowledge of African cinema. Yas Ismail wrote about grief and the transcendental nature of the human spirit in Mosese's film here.