Directed by Rungano Nyoni

2011, Zambia / UK, fiction, 23:09 mins, HD, 16:9, Stereo, Colour

Synopsis

An eight-year-old boy who aspires to be a hero and embarks upon a journey to prove his greatness, with unexpected consequences. A moving insight into childhood where fantasy jostles with reality as a young boy’s imagination transforms and empowers everyday life.

Directors Statement:
I wanted the film to reflect the bitter sweetness of growing up in Zambia, surrounded by immensely devastating things but in contrast living a pretty normal and fulfilled childhood. Mwansa the Great deals with death through the children’s point of view. Mwansa , Shula and Lackie have recently lost their father. Unknowingly they try and carry on his legacy though their imagination. Shula, the big sister, does this by playing Princess Shula, a nickname given to her by her father. Mwansa plays Mwansa The Great, also something his father used to call him. Lackie, plays with a doll their father made for her. I wanted to capture the importance of dreaming big despite adverse circumstances. Mwansa dreams of being reunited with his Dad again, through his imagination he does so and at the end of the film he gets what he wants.

Cast

Mwansa – Samuel Mwale
Shula – Anna Mithi
Mwansa the Great – Owas Ray Mwape
Princess Shula – Mwansa Bwalya
Lackie – Lackie Phiri
Mother – Becky Ngoma


Crew

Writer/Director – Rungano Nyoni
Producer – Rungano Nyoni, Gabriel Gauchet
Cinematographer – Andrzej Krol

Editor – Gabriel Gauchet, Rungano Nyoni
Sound Recordist – Lilia Dornorf
Sound Designer – Tilman Hahn
Production Designer – Ricardo Hernandez

Rungano Nyoni

Rungano Nyoni is a self-taught Writer / Director. Her first short film THE LIST won a BAFTA Cymru, her subsequent short film MWANSA THE GREAT was selected for over 100 International Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2012. In 2013 Rungano wrote Z1 which subsequently won Best Short at The British Independent Film Awards. Her short LISTEN has been nominated for a European Film Award 2015 and won the Best Short Narrative Prize at Tribeca Film Festival. 

Rungano’s debut feature was I AM NOT A WITCH. It follows the story of an 8 year old girl who is exiled to a Witch Camp. The film premiered in Cannes and was nominated for numerous international awards.  In 2018 Rungano won the BAFTA for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.  She also won best director and best debut director at the 2017 British Independent Film Awards. 

In 2018 Rungano received the Wellcome Trust Fellowship.