by Siviwe Zibi
X Marks the Spot is a short film about gender-based violence. The film shows the reality and darkness of the world we live in, it shows the horror many South African women are subjected to. For some horror is what’s depicted in a blockbuster movie with monsters and ghosts but for women of South Africa, it’s unending rape and femicide horror.
The film was created by young women and men who saw the need for raising awareness in terms of gender-based violence. It features an ex-boyfriend who is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend and her current relationship. He doesn’t want her to be with anyone but him, that’s when he starts to abuse and control her.
“We wanted to shoot a film to get us started on the journey of filmmaking and developing our skills. When playing around with ideas we looked at what people could relate to and also educate and raise awareness at the same time. During that period there were stories of women being raped circulating on social media and we decided to tell a story that would get people to realise the trauma that men put women through with their violent actions, raise awareness on the depth of gender-based violence in the country and give people an inside view of this issue” said Omolemo Matheba film director.
“Our film provides a stepping stone for ourselves and people we may work with in the future. It provides an opportunity for other filmmakers to be inspired and to tell their stories in a unique way, take the next step and bring their ideas to life. It gives an opportunity to create an identity”.
What is brilliant shown in this short film is femicide in South Africa is a crime against humanity. It expresses the trauma that the victims of gender-based violence and their loved ones go through, it clearly shows that rape and femicide it’s real and in many cases, it is done by people whom we know, women are under siege and men need to change their ways.
X Marks the Spot evokes emotions of sadness, anger, shock, and empathy. Ultimately the director and writers wanted viewers to decide for themselves how the film makes them feel because they are interpreting things differently and one person’s reality may be different from the other but the purpose is to educate and spread knowledge about women’s femicide and rape. The film will be released at the beginning of 2020 on YouTube.
