Heritage Month is a time when many celebrate culture and diversity of beliefs and traditions.
Language of My Soul is a celebration of an African elder who rediscovered her will to live when she decided to revive a language she was once ashamed of.
The film directed by Gregory Molale is set to debut on SABC2 on Sunday. It follows a woman who hides her San identity and language for 45 years, and is haunted by thoughts of the language dying if she does not speak up.
Gregory has been producing, directing and writing award-winning TV content.
He spoke to TshisaLIVE about the importance of diversity in storytelling.
“When I learnt Ouma Katrina is the last living speaker of N|uu, I was immediately intrigued. I soon discovered she had started a N|uu school and published the first book in N|uu with the Puku Children’s Literature Foundation. It became clear that such a remarkable life needed to be documented on film, and I’m grateful this story found its way to me,” he said.
“This is one of those rare stories where Ouma Katrina and her community, the San, speak for themselves. In most documentaries, their voices are often overshadowed by outsiders, be it experts, voice-overs, or even the directors themselves. Here, the San and Khoi are front and centre, speaking directly to the issues that affect them. They explore themes of identity (are they San, Bushmen, or coloured?), language (should they embrace Afrikaans as part of their heritage, or view it as the language of their oppressors?) and their disappointments with South Africa’s democratic dispensation.
“As we celebrate Heritage Month, the film reminds us our history and heritage doesn’t begin in 1652. Africa is unlikely to succeed in addressing many of its pressing concerns until it has a proper understanding and appreciation of pre-colonial Africa, a decolonised appreciation of our inheritance as Africans.”
Through poetic visuals and deep emotional resonance, Language of My Soul illustrates the contradictions of a world in transition, where modernity and tradition collide, and emphasises the profound role of individuals in shaping the cultural memory of their people. It is ultimately a story of resilience, the fight against cultural extinction, and the power of one woman’s soul to carry the weight of her people’s history.
Ouma Katrina is the last fluent speaker of the language and she has taught her grand-daughter Claudia and David van Wyk, who know about 30% of the language.
Nǀuu is a moribund Tuu language no longer spoken on a daily basis as the speakers live in different villages. The ǀʼAuni name for the Nǀuu, ǂKhomani, is used by the government. As of June 2021, only one speaker of the Nǀuu dialect remains, the rest of the population having shifted to Khoekhoe and Afrikaans.
“It was my first time going into the Kalahari and learning N|uu with Ouma. She used to herd sheep when she was young (about 10). As she was showing family members around she came across a wild-berry tree. I recognised it to be a ‘ditlhekwa’ tree, as we call it in Setswana. Ouma Katrina explained that in N|uu the wild berries are called |ekwa. I realised many Setswana words that begin with ‘tlhe’ are from N|uu. The IsiXhosa word for traditional, qhira, comes from N|uu and means the same thing.”
Legendary actor John Kani described Language of My Soul as “the most beautiful thing I have seen in my 60 years as writer and director”.
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