Documentary Film: Three Generations Of Women Create A Community Garden In Their South African Village

Canada: University of Victoria historian Elizabeth Vibert teamed up with award-winning director Christine Welsh to produce ‘The Thinking Garden’.

The garden, which has now been in operation for 25 years, provides fresh vegetables and opportunities for the local villagers while helping confront the ravages of poverty, climate change and AIDS.

By Dan Ebenal
Saanich News
Feb 25, 2017

Excerpt:

“The garden has been vitally important to the community, especially as the effects of climate change get worse. It provides local, affordable produce that otherwise people have to travel on public transit to buy fresh vegetables,” said Vibert.

More familiar with writing about history, Vibert said her first venture into filmmaking was extremely challenging.

“The film was shot entirely in the women’s language, which is xiTsonga. Then we have English subtitles,” she said. “It was a huge challenge to work in a completely different cultural setting and a different language.”

She credits the work of a local South African woman, Basani Ngobeni, who served as the assistant director, acted as translator and helped arrange for all of the crew’s needs.

Read the complete article here.

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