The Mothers’ House

Coming of Age in Post Apartheid South Africa

A documentary by Francois Verster

Astonishingly intimate, this festival film is a record of four years in the life of Miche, a charming and precocious teenager growing into womanhood in a township outside Cape Town. She has to face not only life in a “colored” community beset by gangsterism and drug abuse, but also the toughness and anger within her own family : three generations of women who have survived the struggle against Apartheid, the lack of supportive men, the threat of HIV and dim prospects for a better life.

The film is honest without being maudlin. Miche is in many ways an ordinary high school girl: she has her ears pierced for the first time, hosts her first dancing party, and finds her first boyfriend. But having to bear responsibility for her HIV positive mother, and the well-being of her younger siblings ,forces her to be strong beyond her years. When the pressure becomes too great she leaves home, but finally realizes the love that binds them, and returns.

76 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $85.

HotDocs, Toronto, 2006
Silverdocs, 2006
African Film Festival, Cologne, 2006
One World Festival, Prague, 2006
Best Documentary, Cape Town World Cinema Festival, 2005