#WeAreDyingHere is a 23-minute cinematic experience

A chronicle following three soldiers, the short film #WeAreDyingHere, streaming now on Showmax, explores three women’s heartfelt responses to South Africa’s violent culture of abuse, femicide, harassment and rape.

The title uses a hashtag naming convention to echo similar movements and evolve to engage audiences and create an ongoing conversation. To do this, the powerful and thought-provoking play has an interactive element to serve as what Jonas describes as an “indaba” to “reimagine a more hopeful future where the most vulnerable are not overwhelmed by fear”.

“Breaking the fourth wall” enables the performers to convert the stage into a roving soapbox, bringing audiences into the spotlight and funneling any notion of pure entertainment back into a raw reality. Stirring up emotional energy with a form of slam poetry, the play moves from its effective high concept war scenario of three soldiers contending with a war on women’s bodies into an intimate and important dialogue. This “house lights” open discussion is what the SAFTA-winning short film #WeAreDyingHere wants to inspire – getting audiences to pick up the conversation on social media, in their homes and beyond.

While live stage plays have immediate energy and impact value, #WeAreDyingHere becomes even more compelling and immersive as an apocalyptic and cinematic experience. A high-end stage production can create a realistic setting with sounds and lights, but film’s capacity for illusion, versatility and world-building is far superior. This is probably what motivated Siphokazi Jonas and director Shane Vermooten to adapt the story from stage to screen, produced by Bianca Vermooten in partnership with Wrestling Dawn Arts, Optical Films and the Kolisi Foundation.

The short film stars Siphokazi Jonas, Babalwa Makwetu and Hope Netshivhambe, who co-wrote and starred in the original #WeAreDyingHere play. A producer, poet and musician respectively, each of these performers reprise their roles to integrate and combine their own unique talents. Moving from an abstract stage setting where scattered newspapers and sand bags are used to create a war-torn environment, the production value has been escalated beyond the power of imagination to create a hellish scenario for its three unarmed soldiers in a senseless war. While they’re united and representative of all South African women, the actors engage audiences by reciting poetry in the form of monologue and song.

WeAreDyingHere isn’t a typical short film, channeling the best elements in what Vermooten describes as a “collaboration between poetry, stage, and film”. Using audio and visuals to craft a dark, fiery and threatening war-ravaged landscape, the powerful metaphor is given a visceral quality as gunfire and bomb blasts fill the air.

The absence of men is intentional. Starting with surveillance footage, the soldiers find themselves under the constant watch of a faceless enemy as they try to survive the night. This subliminal choice keeps a focus on the real issues without distraction or threat of obfuscation. Casting an actor would make #WeAreDyingHere about a scapegoat or a few rotten apples rather than about a corporate change and radical shift in a deep-seated toxic culture.

The powerful chronicle never depicts violence but infers psychological and bodily trauma through its heartfelt performances from Jonas, Makwetu and Netshivhambe. Using words as their weapons to bring about change, these fierce women take a stand, speaking to the discrimination, misconceptions, politics and madness of it all. Their words are emotive and intentional, breaking free of buzzwords and platitudes in the hopes of finally being heard. Moving from fear and stoicism, the characters progress through a number of scenarios involving a flooded room and a military vehicle. As they progress, their message elevates from a cerebral appeal to a heartfelt crescendo with a goosebump-inducing ode from Netshivhambe.

“We too are children of war”. According to crime statistics, more than 40 000 women are raped and more than 2 500 are murdered every year in South Africa. These cold figures fail to represent each of these incidents as a someone, a living and breathing person with hopes and dreams – someone’s mother, daughter or child. Hopefully bold and impactful films like #WeAreDyingHere will lead to action, social change and continued efforts to heal a broken society, inspiring positive change across the globe.