Cape Town International Film Festival announces opening film

Cape Town - The Cape Town International Film Market and Festival (CTIFMF) on Thursday announced the official opening night film that will be screened at the Artscape Theatre on 9 October. 

Jahmil X.T Qubeka’s Sew the Winter to My Skin, is an epic existential-adventure film that has wowed audiences at Cannes L’Atelier 2017, and will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week followed by its European Premiere at the BFI Festival in London and the Busan International Film Festival in Asia.  

Set in South Africa's rural Great-Karoo region in the 1950s, the film chronicles the exploits of the outlaw John Kepe and the various individuals his escapades affected. 

This Robin-hood-esque figure would steal primarily livestock from the white settler farmers for over a decade. 

Led by the hardliner General Botha, a mammoth manhunt ensued in the mountain where Kepe was rumoured to occupy a Noah's Ark like cave. 

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

This spectacle ingratiated Kepe in the hearts of the marginalised indigenous-population who turned Kepe's miscreant deeds into the stuff of legend making him a threat to the very fabric of the colonial society.

“I am honoured to have Sew the Winter to my Skin invited as the opening film for the Cape Town International Film Festival, it is important for us to bring the film to its intended audience and celebrate South African cinema,” said director Jahmil X.T Qubeka.

The Cape Town International Film Market and Festival 2018 will take place from 9 to 19 October at various venues across the iconic V & A Waterfront in Cape Town. 80 feature films, 20 documentaries and 66 short films will be screened.