Composed of an artful blend of documentary and dramatic elements, CONVERSATIONS ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON is a revolutionary film for South Africa. Matabane breaks with the hard-hitting historical dramas his country has turned out lately and charges right into the world of ideas.

On a lovely Sunday afternoon in Johannesburg, Keniloe (Tony Kgoroge) wanders in a park. He meets Fatima (Fatima Hersi), a Somali woman brought to tears as she tells him of the suffering that led her to seek refuge in South Africa. Just as he’s getting to know his new friend, she disappears. Shaken by her story, Keniloe goes looking for her through Johannesburg’s migrant neighbourhoods. But his quest soon takes on a life of its own, as he asks further questions of the people he meets. Why did you leave Kenya? Can you ever go home to Congo? Where is your home? Simply by asking questions with his work, Matabane adds some fascinating new avenues of thought to South Africa’s national conversation.

The struggle for reconciliation is nudged aside to reveal a country coming to terms with its new status as a promised land. What does a richer African nation owe to its poorer neighbours? How does political crisis shape personal identity? And is the war over now?