South Africa / 2016 / 88mins / Drama / Xhosa

Xolani (Nakhane) joins the other men of his community on a journey to the mountains to initiate a group of teenagers into manhood. His entire existence starts to unravel when a defiant initiate from the city discovers his best-kept secret, a forbidden love.

John Trengove

John Trengove's debut feature The Wound opened to rave reviews in Sundance and Berlin and went on to win 28 international film awards, including the historic Sutherland trophy for Best First Feature at the BFI London Film Festival and Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Feature at Outfest. The controversial film, which deals with a closeted love affair in the context of a rite-of-passage to manhood, was dubbed "the most important LGBT film you will see in 2018" by i-D and was shortlisted for the foreign language Oscars in the same year. John originally trained as an actor and went on to study at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He spent his early career making work across multiple platforms, including the cult theatre hit The Epicene Butcher which played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and his television miniseries Hopeville which was awarded the Rose d'Or and received an International Emmy nomination. He has received 2 best director SAFTA's and an honorary award from the South African Academy of Arts and Sciences for his work on the drama series, Swartwater. John lives between Johannesburg and São Paulo with his husband and filmmaker Marco Dutra. Learn More