{"id":1352,"date":"2017-10-27T16:24:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T15:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=1352"},"modified":"2017-10-27T16:24:50","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T15:24:50","slug":"sex-lies-razor-blades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2017\/10\/27\/sex-lies-razor-blades\/","title":{"rendered":"Sex, Lies and Razor-Blades"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Director John Trengove with Film and Media Correspondent, Khalid Ali<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Review of The Wound<\/em> (Inxeba<\/em>), directed by John Trengove, South Africa<\/p>\n

Winner of the best first feature film award, London Film Festival 2017<\/p>\n

Opening film for Film Africa Festival<\/a>, London, 27th<\/sup> October,<\/p>\n

Recently Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues have been the subject of heated debate in South Africa. While South Africa remains the only African country to legalise same-sex marriage, the incidence of crimes triggered by homophobia have risen over the last five years. \u2018Corrective’ rapes are serious rape assaults perpetrated with the intention to \u2018cure some women of being lesbians\u2019; sadly, these hideous crimes have been headline news of late.<\/p>\n

The Wound<\/em> tells the story of Kwanda (Niza Jay) a teenager from Johannesburg whose father takes him back to the village to become a \u2018man\u2019 following circumcision. The father, who comes from the Xhosa community, wants his son to go through the traditional circumcision rituals where a group of teenage boys stay in the mountains for two weeks to have the procedure done. Basic instruments such as scalpels and razor blades are used to perform circumcision, followed by a period of \u2018wound healing\u2019. Each teenage \u2018initiate\u2019 is assigned to a caregiver, an older man who will train them on the \u2018rules of masculinity\u2019. Kwanda\u2019s caregiver Xolani (Nakhane Toure) happens to be a closeted gay man who is secretly in love with another caregiver, Vija (Bongile Mantsai). To make matters more complicated, Vija is a married man with young children. The storyline follows these three characters struggling with their hidden desires, and homophobia till the devastating film end.<\/p>\n

John Trengove, film director states: \u2019I wanted to make a film about same-sex desire set in Africa to challenge the notion that homosexuality is un-African, and that it is a threat to traditional African cultural and moral beliefs. I wanted to tell a story of a young boy going through the rites of passage to manhood navigating his way in the secret world of older men. Circumcision is a defining moment in a man\u2019s life, and in South Africa it is very much a male-dominated closed-door society\u2019.<\/p>\n