Chris Nyathi and his girlfriend Dumi Ndaba share a quiet moment in this still from Matabeleland, a documentary by Zimbabwean filmmaker Nyasha Kadandara that follows one man’s journey to confront family trauma and unbury the past.
How do you heal from a past that was never acknowledged?
That’s the question Zimbabwean filmmaker Nyasha Kadandara set out to explore in her debut feature documentary, Matabeleland. Premiering last week at CPH:DOX 2025 in Copenhagen, the film offers a deeply personal look at generational trauma and migration in a Zimbabwe still grappling with life after President Robert Mugabe.
Seven years in the making, Matabeleland follows Chris Nyathi, a Zimbabwean living in Botswana who, like hundreds of thousands forced to leave under Mugabe’s 37-year rule, emigrated in search of work and livelihood. But he is haunted by the unburied remains of his father, a victim of the Gukurahundi massacres in the 1980s. This was a period of state-led violence against supporters of opposition leader Joshua Nkomo that left thousands of Ndebele civilians dead.
For decades, the massacres have rarely been spoken about publicly in Zimbabwe and remain a source of generational silence.
“Zimbabwe has, unfortunately, gone through many instances of violence. But this was the first big one, and the worst,” Kadandara tells OkayAfrica. “And when people talk about reconciliation and moving forward, you can’t really move forward without looking at the past and where you’ve come from. I think there’s a big disconnect in the country around why certain things are the way they are in Matabeleland.”
Zimbabwean director Nyasha Kadandara at the CPH:DOX 2025 documentary film festival in Copenhagen, where her debut feature Matabeleland had its world premiere.
Photo by Nyasha Kadandara
But Matabeleland isn’t just another politically charged documentary. Politics, with a capital “P,” appears only as necessary context. The heart of the film lies in memory, mourning, and the quiet spaces where grief lives as life continues.
Nyathi has built a life across the border in Botswana, yet he remains spiritually tethered to his father’s unmarked grave in Zimbabwe–especially as the oldest son. He believes he is cursed. Haunted by debt, trying to provide for his many children, and the unresolved trauma, he embarks on a deeply personal mission to rebury his father.
Kadandara’s choice to focus on emotional truth rather than political critique was deliberate and grounded in what she witnessed. “A lot of the people from these communities that were affected are practical … They understand that no one's going to come and apologize. They are not necessarily asking for reparations. They just want the basic right of mourning.”
That choice opens space for tender, everyday moments rarely seen in documentaries about Africa and Africans: Nyathi ironing his clothes as he talks to the camera, or Dumi doing the cooking, or Nyathi revealing to one of his children that he used to love drawing. It’s an intimacy we rarely see about Africans, Kadandara argues.
“Those types of things…we don't get to see them. The mundane, the everyday, the unspectacular events. I really feel like we don’t get the opportunity to be that, or do that, or see it on TV,” she says. In one especially poignant scene, Nyathi’s daughter’s surprise at this forgotten dream drives home the emotional distance often passed down through generations, especially between African fathers and their children.
Nyasha Kadandara shooting the documentary in Zimbabwe
Photo by Nyasha Kadandara
That longing for connection and remembering feels especially urgent in today’s Zimbabwe. This week, the country faced a tense political moment. Former war veteran Blessed Gezahad called for nationwide protests against President Emmerson Mnangagwa, accusing the regime of corruption and failed leadership. Most Zimbabweans stayed home.
Mnangagwa was once seen as a reformer after Mugabe’s removal in 2017, but the economy has worsened under his rule and the government has become more authoritarian. Inflation remains high, and a new currency introduced in 2024 has done little to stabilize the lives of Zimbabweans. Efforts to change the constitution that will allow the president to stay in power longer have made people even more uneasy.
Within this broader national fatigue, Matabeleland feels uncannily timely. Kadandara’s own background gives her a unique lens to tell this story. She is a Shona filmmaker born in Bulawayo, the capital of Matabeleland—a mix that offers her a personal and powerful perspective on a region often left out of Zimbabwe’s national story.
“If people meet me, I'm always the first person to correct them about what part of Zimbabwe I'm from. So for me, it was really important to shed a spotlight on this place that I feel very personally connected to, that I love, and that I don't often see represented. But it is a place that also carries a lot of trauma because of what happened in the 80s.”
Matabeleland director Nyasha Kadandara (center) with the film's editor Jordan Inaan (left) and producer Sam Soko (right) at the film’s world premiere at CPH:DOX 2025 in Copenhagen.
Photo by Nyasha Kadandara
The film’s power also lies in its cross-border collaboration. Produced by Kenya’s LBx Africa—known for Softie, No Simple Way Home, and Free Money—Matabeleland is part of a growing movement of Pan-African storytelling. Kadandara, who currently calls Kenya home, sees this collaboration as essential. “We’re passionate about breaking down borders,” she says. “I think it's the only way that we're going to be able to survive and grow as African storytellers.”
Determined to bring the film home to Zimbabwe, Kadandara is planning community screenings across Bulawayo, rural areas, and diasporic hubs like Johannesburg and London. “I see this film as an opportunity. It gives people a chance to watch and start a conversation. I think Chris sharing his story of burying his father was very brave. What he did was very empowering, and I think a lot of people can draw strength from the way he’s spoken about it.”
Matabeleland premiered at CPH:DOX 2025 and continues its festival run. For updates, visit:https://lbxafrica.com/film/matabeleland.
