Film captures election trauma

A documentary on the violent 2008 presidential elections, The Axe and The Tree , bears witness to the trauma experienced by Zimbabweans.

The film premiered on Tuesday at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg, attended by director, Rumbi Katedza, and activist, Elinor Sisulu.

Verne Harris, of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said the decision to host the screening was motivated by "a call for justice" and that "Zimbabwe looms very large in Mandela's own memory".

"What happened in Zimbabwe in 2008 was invisible and it's important that more and more people are available to talk so that a situation like that does not happen again," said Katedza.

The film moves between the happy and sad memories shared by the participants and their families, documenting their trauma, vulnerability and glimpses of hope. In one scene a couple describes how they met and fell in love. "I liked the way he spoke. He was full of jokes and that is what I admired about him," said the shy-looking wife with a smile.

"They seem to be running dry these days. But he has not lost his sense of humour," she said.

Next she described how she was "raped by a gang of youths who attacked her family's house," and kidnapped her and two children.

Her face transformed from laughter to sadness. "When we got there they beat and raped us."

Another elderly woman said she loved children and that was still in her blood. "When I arrive at church all the children shout for me: 'Granny, Gogo'," she said.

But she broke into tears when she recalled how she was gang-raped by children.

"One of them said: 'Why don't you beat her?' The other one answered: 'No. Just rape her and leave her'." The woman said she had since contracted a disease.

Sisulu said she appreciated that "the film was giving agency to the people (of Zimbabwe)".

"South Africans must take note from Zimbabwe that media freedom is not just a liberal democratic notion, but a matter of life and death," said Sisulu, who also mentioned that she lives in an "ANC family".

She reminded Katedza of a "personal friend", Jestina Mukoko, who "had been abducted for conducting human rights work in Zimbabwe".

"Prepare for the consequences, and with Zanu-PF there are always consequences," Sisulu said.

Howard Varney, of International Centre of Transitional Justice, said he hoped the film would be shown all around the world, but it would not be screened in Zimbabwe for safety reasons.