Films › Directing
I Am Not a Witch
Directed by Rungano Nyoni, 2017
Rungano Nyoni directs with a deadpan absurdist register that treats a genuinely horrifying premise, the ritual exile of women accused of witchcraft, without a single moment of tonal pleading for sympathy. Nyoni blocks her exiled women tethered to long white ribbons meant to prevent them from flying away, a literal visual metaphor she refuses to explain in dialogue, trusting composition to carry the critique. Static, symmetrical framing recalls Roy Andersson's tableau style, and Nyoni holds shots past the point of narrative necessity, letting absurdity accumulate through duration rather than punchlines. Casting nonprofessional actor Maggie Mulubwa required Nyoni to build performance around stillness and silent observation rather than dialogue-driven emotion, a choice suited to a child actor with no formal training. The film's satire targets both traditional superstition and the tourism economy that commodifies it, keeping both targets in the same frame rather than cutting between critique and cause. For directors, this models sustaining moral seriousness through comic distance instead of despite it.
What to watch for
Pay attention to how often the camera holds static wide shots of the ribboned women rather than cutting to reaction shots for sympathy.
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