Non-IA Reflection

On Thursday, January 10th I went to see the movie titled Liyana. This film was half documentary and half animation. The documentary portion was focused on the lives of orphaned children in Swaziland. There is a storyteller, Gcina Mhlophe, who comes in to spark creativity in the children, and from there they write the story that is the animated portion of the film.

Swaziland is a very small country at the bottom of South Africa. Before attending this film, I had never heard of it. The children who live here in the orphanage have a rough past, and that becomes evident when they begin writing the story. In this story that they create, the parents die from AIDS and the three children are left with their grandmother to raise them. One night, thieves come and steal the younger twin brothers. Liyana, the main character, must embark on a hard journey to save her brothers. On top of that, she saves three other children she finds with her brothers.

I was extremely impacted by this film. The youngest of the main children who writes the story was nine at the time it was beginning to be filmed. To have someone going through so many hardships that young was eye opening to me and it broke my heart. There are so many things we take for granted here and even though these children had rough pasts, they were not hopeless. They were excited to tell a story. They were happy to play outside. They were active in their lives and they did not let their troubles define them, and I think there is a lot to learn from that.

There was a question and answer session after the movie with the director, Aaron Kopp, and there was a woman who asked how they were marketing it since the animation story would grab at kids but the topics discussed including AIDS, rape and abuse were so deep. This brought up some cultural differences as how in America, typically parents shield children’s eyes from topics like this and try to keep them innocent. However, in the film is was what these children grew up knowing. In the documentary portion, one of the younger children had to go get checked to see if he had the HIV virus because it is so common in their population whereas in America, children typically do not even know what it is.

During the Q&A, Kopp stated that the movie took about 6 years to make because of the way they had to put it together. Since it took so long, the children are now teenagers and beginning their own lives. When it premiered, Kopp was able to bring them to see it in LA and I find that amazing. Not only that, but Kopp holds showings in Swaziland as way to bring the movie back to its ‘home.’ The people here appreciate it and can relate to it. Liyana is a superhero to them.

From this event I learned about the country of Swaziland and the people there. I gained a lot personally from this and it was truly a reality check for me. It is important to be grateful for the things you have and the people in your life because in some places, life is much different.