ENCOUNTERS 2025: BRIEF TENDER LIGHT

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. Now celebrating its 27th year as a festival, Encounters returns to The Bioscope once again with screenings at The Bioscope from 20 - 29 June. Tickets are R90. 

SEE THE FULL BIOSCOPE PROGRAM HERE

BRIEF TENDER LIGHT

Dir. Arthur Musah | United States | 93 min | 2023 

Ukrainian-Ghanaian filmmaker and MIT alumnus, Arthur Musah, explores the personal journeys of four African students—Sante (Tanzania), Fidelis (Zimbabwe), Billy (Rwanda) and Philip (Nigeria)—as they pursue engineering degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world’s most prestigious technological institutions. Coming from diverse backgrounds across the continent, the students arrive with a shared hope of catalysing tangible change in their home countries. However, they soon encounter the complex realities of adapting to a foreign culture and managing academic pressure, whilst sustaining ties to their families and home, and confronting the weight of their own expectations. Filmed over several years, Musah parallels their experiences with his own journey as an African student at a foreign university, navigating American culture from the peripheries of society. Brief Tender Light is a coming-of-age story rooted within a layered reflection into growth, identity and the meaning of success, as the students navigate the tension between personal aspiration and collective hope, in search for their greater purpose. 

In 2025, The Bioscope celebrates 15 Years Of Cinema. We couldn’t have achieved this without our dedicated staff who look after you every time you visit. We’re lucky enough to have had all of them with us for as long as we can remember, and believe that this loyalty deserves constant support!

For the months of May, June and July, we are running a special BIOSCOPE BIRTHDAY STAFF FUNDRAISER, where in the checkout of your ticket purchase, you can give a donation that will go straight to them - Owen, Silin, Bongi, Portia, Polite, and Swenkie!