Encounters 2021: We Are Zama Zama

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters Documentary Film Festival. Always a highlight in our calendar, the festival returns this year with limited physical screenings at The Bioscope from 11-20 June. Tickets are R70. For more information on the festival as a whole, please visit encounters.co.za

WE ARE ZAMA ZAMA

Directed by: Rosalind Morris. (South Africa | Canada | United States). Dur: 1h 14 mins.

For more than a century, South Africa was the world’s largest producer of gold, more of the precious metal having been extracted from its reserves than in the rest of the world combined. Today, however, many of these mines have closed and new waves of migrants are entering the abandoned but unsealed mine shafts to scavenge for the remaining gold. The most daring of these informal miners are called zama zamas, meaning 'to keep on trying’ and also ‘to gamble’. The work is dangerous, both for the men who go underground and for the women who grind the rock by hand in order to extract the gold. Without helmets, safety equipment, or ventilation, and lighting the way with only bicycle head-lamps, these zama zamas are indeed gamblers who risk everything, although they have little choice if they want to earn an income. We are Zama Zama tells their stories.

COVID POLICY AND PROCEDURE.

The new Bioscope location is set to be a 47 seater cinema. We are however selling far less in order for there to be space to sit apart from other members of the public. We ask you to please keep your mask on the entire time within the cinema premises. Drinks and snacks will be on sale and can be consumed during the film, but please consider those around you when your mask is off for this. 44 Stanley is largely an open air shopping centre, and The Bioscope has a great outside space directly outside the cinema that public can make use of. Within the cinema, we will also make use of temperature reading, air filtering, and constant cleaning to make sure that The Bioscope remains a safe and hygienic experience.

After purchasing tickets, if you experience any COVID related symptoms, or come into contact with anyone who has tested positive, we ask you to please not attend the screening. Please understand that The Bioscope will not be able to refund you this ticket. We are happy however for you to give your ticket to someone else that can attend. If this is not possible, we would be happy to exchange your ticket for a future screening/event. This can all be coordinated via email at [email protected]