University-funded short film on South African art and writing selected for UK film festival

In February 2022, the team behind 'South African Modernism 1880-2020', an AHRC-funded research project, received an additional 'Reignite Your Research' grant from the University of Salford to make a short film entitled All That is Buried.

The film was a collaboration between Simon Stanton-Sharma, Maire Tracey, Sanja Nivesjö, and Dr Jade Munslow Ong from the University's School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology along with Matthew Whittle from the University of Kent who were on location in South Africa for the duration of the shoot. 

All That Is Buried premiered at the nationwide Being Human Festival in November 2022, was also screened at the Schreiner Karoo Writers Festival and the Castle of Good Hope in South Africa and has now been accepted to the BIFA and BAFTA-qualifying Bolton Film Festival in October 2023.

Dr Jade Munslow Ong, Principal Investigator of the project and Associate Professor (Reader) in World Literatures in English at the University of Salford, said: "We're thrilled that All That Is Buried has been selected for the Bolton International Film Festival in October. We've loved working together and with our collaborators in South Africa to create the film, and we're looking forward to it reaching new and wider audiences through the festival.”

South African Modernism 1880-2020 is a project led and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council that aims to overhaul conventional narratives of modernism by providing a comprehensive account of South African literary modernism and its international connections across the specific period of 1880-2020.

All That Is Buried was born out of a collaboration between filmmakers and researchers from the University of Salford and showcases interviews, readings, performances and artworks by musician Dizu Plaatjies, poet Zizipho Bam, artist and activist Haroon Gunn-Salie, and writer Sindiswa Busuku.

The film shows these Cape Town creatives exploring the relationships between politics and aesthetics, the lasting impacts of colonialism and apartheid in and on South African art forms, and the relevance and legacies of local traditions, events, cultures and historical figures, writers and artworks today. 

Tickets for the film festival can be secured.

Find out more about the South African Modernism 1880-1920 project.