Dorpie

Koekie, Fluksie, Sanna and Jo-Marie live together in a safehouse in Bredasdorp, a small town in South Africa. This community of around 15,000 has been shaken by a series of rapes and murders of women. Community worker Lana O’Neill felt compelled to create a safe place for the most vulnerable women, so that what happened to Anene, Kayde, Sulnita and Jodene doesn’t happen to them too. Lana’s activities range widely, from picking up female addicts 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 sexual violence wreak havoc on the lives of the women of Bredasdorp, and by extension, the community as a whole. The government, meanwhile, is doing next to nothing to help Lana, and we watch as the pressure of work on her inevitably increases. This sensitive character study is a portrait of a woman making the most of her grassroots leadership qualities, but struggling against the tide. Will Lana get the local government on board before there’s another victim? (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)