A Portrait Of A Grandmother

Synopsis

This is a eulogy to the memory of a dearly loved grandmother, a matriarch who is both mother and friend to my own mother. Filmed during the last year of her life, this visual memoir weaved recollections by Makhulu Meisie’s granddaughter Kelebogile told serenely as a letter to the after-life, is an attempt at understanding the mystery of preparing oneself for death.

Initially intended for viewing during her funeral, these layers of memory tell a story of a grandmother left to look after her deceased daughter’s children.

Briefly recalling her life story from her birth until her arrival in a township named Kokosi, we piece together a life at its end, after she built a dwindling family through all storms assailing all elderly black women’s existence.

This is a story that often unfolds in many households, where grandmothers are left to die fending for bloodlines which seem destined to perish. It is a story of the depravity of child-headed household and the suffering sanctioned unto memories of generations of the innocent and beautiful ones, who are as yet to be born.

Directed By: Khahliso Matela

Cinematography: Paul Zisiwe

Editor: Nommo and Tjobolo

Duration: 41 minutes

Year: 2019

NOTE

Please pardon the bad audio. The film was shot on a SONY CoolPix, Fujifilm and Nikon D3100 camera, relying on their on-board microphones for audio.