South Africa / 2004 / 86mins / Documentary / English and Zulu

This documentary follows Dumisani's epic journey to find his 51 siblings and come to terms with the loss of his father as a child. Critics have compared this film to jazz music with bursts of joy and pain that allow the viewer to feel the family's triumph over loss and longing. This film is as much the story of South Africa in search of its origins as it is Dumisani's.

Dumisani Phakathi

Dumisani Phakathi, aka Malo 8, is a Soweto-born director of television, films and commercials. He began making movies at the age of sixteen. After matriculating in 1993 at Phafogang High School in Soweto, he went to work at Die Beeld, Gauteng’s leading Afrikaans newspaper. He proved too gregarious for a newsroom and joined TV Production Company – Urban Brew – as a trainee director. A year later he conceptualized The Electric Workshop, the funky youth actuality program that went on to run for five successful years. Phakathi has collaborated with notable media organizations BBC, Arte and TV2 Denmark. He has received additional praise including a special mention at Toronto Film Festival, a Forum Selection at Berlin Film Festival and a Best Director award at Montecatini Film Festival. Waiting for Valdez, a short film produced for MNET, garnered a great deal of support and attention early on in his career. Some of Phakathi’s other works include An Old Wife's Tale and Don't F*** with Me, I Have 51 Brothers and Sisters (2005). In 2008, his Nocturnal Fragments, a collaboration between Pat Mautloa and Phakathi, which consists of digital stills that Phakathi made with his video camera turned into fine art prints, some of which have additional pastel work by Mautloa, were shown at Johannesburg’s new Resolution Gallery of Digital Art. Learn More