

Something went wrong
Try again later.
I Am Not A Witch [Sub: Eng]
Following a banal incident in her local village, 8-year old girl Shula is accused of witchcraft. After a short trial she is found guilty, taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp in the middle of a desert. At the camp she takes part in an initiation ceremony where she is shown the rules surrounding her new life as a witch. Like the other residents, Shula is tied to a ribbon which is attached to a coil that perches in a large tree. She is told that should she ever cut the ribbon, she'll be cursed and transformed into a goat.









































![I Am Not A Witch [Sub: Eng]](/dist/image/player/criticsNav.png)

October 23, 2017
Maggie Mulubwa is captivating as the girl, and the story is an intriguing mixture of satire and tragedy, but the film's carefully artistic style (though an achievement) is at times too distracting.
October 22, 2017
It's hard to make gripping a character who hasn't found their voice. Yet Mulubwa does.
October 23, 2017
Aesthetically brave, narratively chaotic, this casts a singular spell.
December 27, 2017
As each new injustice piles on the last, the image becomes ironically imbued with its own magical properties, symbolising the terrible absurdity that keeps beleagured women powerless while the lunatics take over the asylum.
October 23, 2017
An extravagant flight of fancy that functions equally well as an anthropological curiosity, engrossing drama, feminist allegory, tart political satire and dire warning against xenophobia.
January 22, 2018
The bobbins are a brilliantly employed metaphor, something that feels freshly sprung from a fairy tale, only silly until you consider how sinister they are.
December 21, 2017
Nyoni opts for an elliptical approach that occasionally confuses, but Mulubwa's exceptional impassivity and David Gallego's unsettlingly striking imagery help keep this focused and fascinating.
October 18, 2017
A magic realist fable set in present-day Zambia that has plenty to say about gender and superstition.
January 10, 2018
It's arguable that Nyoni is stretching a thin premise, but this film is one of the obvious breakouts of the year: exactly the kind of young work-brash, committed, and narratively unpredictable-that film festivals are supposed to champion.
January 10, 2018
There are some bombastic aural stylistic choices too, with Vivaldi and Estelle rubbing shoulders on the surprising soundtrack. While the satire occasionally feels too blunt, overall the film offers a rush of originality, energy and ambition.
May 25, 2017
A fable-like story about a young African girl banished from her village for alleged witchcraft, it blends deadpan humor with light surrealism, vivid visuals and left-field musical choices.
May 27, 2017
It's rare and exhilarating that a new filmmaker arrives on the scene so sure of herself and so willing to take bold, counter-intuitive chances.