ENCOUNTERS 2023: This Is National Wake

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. Celebrating its 25 year as a festival, Encounters returns to The Bioscope once again with screenings from 23 June - 2 July. Tickets are R80. BOOKING ESSENTIAL.

SEE THE FULL BIOSCOPE SCHEDULE FOR ENCOUNTERS HERE

This Is National Wake.

Directed by Mirissa Neff | South Africa/United States of America | 2022 | 65 min.

This Is National Wake follows the origins and decline of a multiracial punk rock band formed by Ivan Kadey, Gary Khoza and Punka Khoza. The band’s internal dynamics reflected and were interrupted by the racial tensions and political strife of the declining years of the apartheid regime. Their outlaw lifestyle, which bridged their own racial divide is explored as a rebellion of the restrictions of repressive racial laws. Musically, the documentary immerses the liberatory philosophy of the band, providing relief and revelry to diverse audiences in Johannesburg’s urban and township venues. Beneath the exciting show-stopping musical current, an internal tragedy brewed divisions between the band’s members, exacerbated by their differences in racial power and the various pulls of their increasingly conflicting personalities.