Please join the DFA’s docLOVE Screenings Programme for a special screening in commemoration of Women’s Month of Dorpie directed by DFA member Julia Jaki,  produced by DFA member Antoinette Engel and edited by DFA member Khalid Shamis.

The small South African town of Bredasdorp has been shaken by a series of rapes and murders of women. Femicide and violence against women reach pandemic levels in the country as a whole. Community worker Lana O’Neill runs a safe house in Bredasdorp – the only one in the whole region. Lana’s activities range widely, from picking up intoxicated women under a bridge to negotiating funding with the deputy mayor. Following Lana as she goes about her daily business, we see how a legacy of inequality, poverty and violence wreak havoc on the lives of women. The local government, meanwhile, is doing little to help Lana and we watch as the pressure of work inevitably increases on the fierce activist.

This sensitive character study, filmed over the course of five years, is a portrait of a woman making the most of her grassroots leadership qualities, but who is struggling against the tide. Dealing with indifference, performative activism by politicians and the vicious cycle of domestic abuse Lana almost reaches her breaking-point.

Julia Jaki is a German-born freelance producer and director based in Cape Town, South Africa. After graduating with an MA in political and Middle Eastern sciences she has worked as an editor at production houses in Hamburg and Munich. In 2012 she relocated to Cape Town and produces TV-reports and documentaries for broadcasters such as Deutsche Welle (DW.com), ZDF or N24 amongst others. She has a special interest in environmental and social issues. DORPIE is her first independent feature documentary.