10 April 2012
A grave South African schoolgirl, Chanda (Khomotso Manyaka), suspects her mother has Aids but no one (not even her mother) wants to know.
Winner of the François Chalais prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival, Oliver Schmitz's coming-of-age drama boasts taut performances from newcomer Manyaka as well as Mapaseka Mathebe as Iris, Chanda's pugnacious half-sister.
Schmitz shoots the kids with dreamy respect. The adult actors have less to work with. Still, their agonised faces, not to mention their voices (the film is full of extraordinary singing), create their own kind of texture and ensure we leave the cinema in tears.
Life, Above All
Cert: 12A
