Synopsis
Tracked cinema verité by a one-man crew, South African filmmakers Feizel Mamdoo and Dumisani Dlamini, journey to the "Festival of the Dhow Countries" in Zanzibar to seek from this kaleidoscope of cultures a vision for the relations between African and Indian in South Africa.
Dlamini is of African and Indian Tamil progeny whose personal accommodation of this is unsettled by existing social and cultural divides. Mamdoo, of Muslim Indian descent, is painfully conscious too of the divides between African and Indian South Africans as he strives for recognition and definition of his African identity.
However the filmmakers' issues of identity transcend in discovery to realms unimagined when the film was first shot eight years ago.
In Zanzibar Feizel is jolted into connection with his birthplace and grows to appreciate that the treasure of an integrated identity is not in some distant future, but back from where he comes. Feizel discovers his issues of journey, homecoming and identity to resonate profoundly with the outlook of the Sufi mystic Rumi, more especially after Dumisani is one day found dead.
Featuring the reed flute music of Deepak Ram and evocative instrumentals by The Mavr!x, this art feature documentary has a strong audio-visual narrative that draws on the Sufi spiritual meaning and symbolism of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi.