Title: Let Them Be Seen
Foreign Title:
Year: 2026
Country: South Africa / Germany
Language: In English, Xhosa, and Southern Sotho with English subtitles
Director: Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi
Click here to see the cast and crew
Nolitha Refilwe Mkulsi’s debut feature has put the forgotten town of Tapoleng, a little-known area of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, very close to the Kingdom of Lesotho. Lesotho is totally landlocked and surrounded by South Africa. It is also completely dependent on South Africa and uses its currency. The people of Lesotho were previously known as the Basotho nation and speak the same languages as in Tapoleng.
I was born in South Africa and travelled through the Eastern Cape, but never visited Lesotho, nor heard of Tapoleng, so kudus to Nolitha for her affectionate portrait of Let Them Be Seen.
The film begins with the use of a mobile shooting of an old man whose face is hidden through Black and White. I was a little hesitant about whether this film would be too personal for our audience, but very shortly the film was in full Black and White and then in colour of the beautiful landscapes of this area. It changed my perspective of what she was conveying, and the message became crystal clear, that the inhabitants of this beautiful area really wanted to forge their future history and break from the history of apartheid and Christian missionary values. They were ready to follow their own destiny and religious beliefs such as Rastafarian ideals or no other beliefs. Nolitha entertains us with various snippets of rural life and allows others to express their feelings about never leaving for the big cities and having the freedom to live their way, be it dancing, or enjoying the beauty of their own lands. Nolitha even introduces a musical game show called “Jam Alley” and letting the participants make it their own. There are no rules and no answers, just faith, memory and being seen as who they are.
The film is a blending of documentary and fiction with her own experimentation and flavor.
