Let Them Be Seen

An affectionate portrait of the forgotten town of Tapoleng, where church once served as a sanctuary for its residents during the old apartheid order. Here, a new religion emerges – one tethered to a new spiritual practice, community and self-determination.

Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi’s prismatic directorial feature debut unfolds in her hometown of Tapoleng, a small village in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Let Them Be Seen examines a region renowned for its dense concentration of churches – a legacy of long-standing missionary indoctrination. It’s also an area forgotten by the new order in the post-apartheid era. Through an intriguing blend of documentary, absurdism and satire, the film follows the inhabitants of Tapoleng as they redefine their spiritual ties and forge new beliefs rooted in ancestral traditions. Mkulisi’s gaze is at once sharp and affectionate, intimately exploring the residents’ daily lives within spaza shops, informal gatherings and their homes.

The nostalgic energy of the beloved 90s musical game show, Jam Alley, is channelled into a fantastical and radiant visual language driven by video art and a fascination with the boundaries between fiction and documentary. Assembling a strong female team, and letting her fellow community drive the narrative, Mkulisi places faith, ritual and memory at the forefront. The film offers no easy answers, instead arguing that the power of being truly seen is what matters most.

– Lyse Nsengiyumva

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