Promised Land

In 1994, a land reform policy was introduced in South Africa: the government wanted to give land back to those who lost it under the apartheid regime. Some of the white farmers clung on desperately to what they regarded as their property. It is in such a rural community that London lawyer George ends up. He has come to South Africa to scatter the ashes of his dead mother on the Rietvlei, the farm belonging to his Uncle Pieter where he spent part of his childhood. When he gets stranded in his car on the way, the neighbours (miles away from his uncle’s farm) offer him shelter. The hospitality of the eccentric family, who keep thinking up new reasons to get George to stay, becomes increasingly oppressive. The longer he stays, the more he becomes intrigued by daughter Carla and her sensitive brother Paul. With their aid, he slowly finds out the gruesome truth about Rietvlei.In Xenopolous’ début film, shot in HighDefinition, there is an important role for the dry and empty landscape and for the stunning nature, with its clear blue skies and black threatening skies that serve to amplify the ominous feeling of the protagonist. Among its awards, the prize for the best scenario at the Tokyo festival.