I Am Not A Witch selected for Oscar submission

Rungano Nyoni's drama is UK nomination for Best Foreign Language film

by Amber Wilkinson

I Am Not A Witch
I Am Not A Witch

Rungano Nyoni's magic-realist inflected satire I Am Not A Witch has been selected as the UK's nomination for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

The film - which won the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut - is a biting take on the idea of witchcraft in Zambia and on sexual politics more widely, telling the story of a young girl who, after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, finds herself accused of being a witch.

Sent to live in a 'witch camp', she is given a stark choice - join the other women, employed to till the field and spot liars in a crowd and whose movements are restricted by ribbons, one end of each attached to their backs with the other end wrapped around enormous cotton bobbins, or cut the cord and become a goat.

Welsh-Zambian writer/director Nyoni visited real-life witch camps in Ghana as part of her research for the film, which was shot in Zambia. The film, which is available on Netflix in the UK, is due for release in US cinemas on September 7.

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