Five Tiger (2020)

In Five Tiger, a short film that played in competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, a God-fearing woman (Ayanda Seoka) finds herself in a transactional relationship with a church leader as she tries to support her daughter and sick husband.

Five Tiger was written and directed by Nomawonga Khumalo as a stylistic proof of concept for her feature debut, The Bursary, which will be produced by South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) winner and co-writer Brett Michael Innes (Fiela se Kind, Sink) and Paulo Areal (Ellen: Die Storie Van Ellen Pakkies).

Five Tiger was inspired by a conversation that Nomawonga had with a Johannesburg prostitute, who, after praying a blessing on her and her work, told a story about how her daughter had spent all the money that she made the day before on buying sweets for herself and her friend. She added that one day God would look favourably upon her because she tithed and she kept her faith. “‘God loves us all’ were her parting words and that just made me livid,” says Nomawonga, as the moment forced her to consider how sometimes the structures that support us can be the very things that hold us back.