South Africa / 2015 / 90mins / Documentary / English and Xhosa

In the Amadiba area, on South Africa’s stunning Wild Coast, the Pondo people have tended their traditional way of life for centuries. Nonhle, a young local eco-tour guide, is a staunch supporter of her people and the endangered environment on which their livelihood and culture depend. Her cousin Madiba, a local entrepreneur and self-proclaimed modernizer, is fully supportive of a titanium-mining proposal and the government’s controversial plan to build a tolled highway across their land. Tired of his community living without good access to employment, hospitals and schools, Madiba courts private capital and government officials. While the South African President deposes the pro-environment Pondo Royal Family, Nonhle rallies inspiring support with little more than dogged determination.

Ryley Grunenwald

Ryley Grunenwald’s directorial and producing debut, The Dawn of a New Day (2011), won Best Director and Best Cinematographer of a Documentary at the 2012 South African Film and Television Awards. She participated in the 2013 IDFA Worldview Summer School, the 2013 Hot Docs Dealmaker, the 2012 Berlinale Talent Campus and pitched at the 2012 Hot Docs Forum. She holds an MA in Film and Television, is owner of Marie-Vérité Films and also directs and shoots on a freelance basis. Her 2014 documentary, The Shore Break, follows a long-running standoff between corrupt pro-mining forces and the Pondo South African coastal community. The film has won multiple international awards, including the Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award at Durban International Film Festival (2015). Learn More