Episode 3 - Godisamang Godi Khunou - "Lady"

women filmmakersAfrican FilmmakersSouth African Filmmakers

Jul 3

July 3, 2020

In this episode, I speak with Godisamang Godi Khunou, founder of Mogale Pictures, a production company dedicated to creating content from the Pan African and Pro African Feminism perspective. Because she is in late development on her first film Black Women & Sex, this week’s song is Hugh Masekela’s remake of the Fela Kuti classic “Lady.”

Photo Credit: Leeroy Jason

[Image description: Godisaman Godi Khunou sits on a beige chair. She is shot from the torso up and has locs. She wears a white long sleeve shirt. Shadows fall across her face.]

[Image description: A Black woman wearing a pink nightgown sits upright on a bed. She holds a cellphone in her left hand. The sheets of the bed are scrunched at her feet. Through the window above is a pink building in the background. ]

Godisamang’s Bio

Godisamang is the owner of Mogale Pictures, a production company dedicated to making Pan African and Pro African Feminist content. She is currently in late development on a feature film entitled Black Women and Sex. She is the director/producer and heads a team of incredibly talented young, Black professionals, that are not only exceptional at their work but committed to understanding and unlearning on this journey of showing the politics of sex for black women.

Godisamang won three development awards in Germany during DOK Leipzig 2019 including the Development Prize for Best Female Director and the Best Female Talent at the Co-Production Market. She also won an award for the Most Promising Film at the Durban FilmMart South Africa in 2019.

In 2016, she made a documentary series that led to the upcoming film on Black women and sex, where her team tackled the politics in representation, African cultures, and slut-shaming, conversations between mothers and daughters, and the pleasure of sex. The series was screened at the Bioscope Independent Cinema in April 2017.

In 2015, she was selected for Talents Durban/Berlinale Talents, run in cooperation with the Durban Film Mart to provide emerging African filmmakers with a unique opportunity to meet with the international industry experts and mentors. I was selected for my experimental short film entitled Brief Encounters of a Sexual Kind about the different sexual preferences people have on an online dating app.

In 2014, she worked as a Producer Trainee for the feature film Tell Me Sweet Something directed by Akin Omotoso. She worked under the mentorship of Robbie Thorpe on the rom-com that tells the story of Moratiwa, an aspiring writer who owns and runs a bookstore in the heart of Johannesburg. The bookstore like her love life is not experiencing much success.

Godisamang is a strong advocate for those in the film industry. She was on the board of the Writers Guild of South Africa from 2016-2017, an NGO dedicated to empowering the performance of writers through training workshops, work opportunities, and entrance into international and local film festivals. In 2018, she joined the advocacy team of SWIFT (Sisters Working In Film and Television) which is dedicated to raising awareness of sexual harassment to the general public, working with the government to conduct research on sexual harassment in the South African entertainment industry, as well as support meetings to create a safe space for women to speak up.

WuWD Episode 3 - Godisamang Godi Khunou Transcript

Black Women & Sex Logline

Black Women and Sex explores the tension between black women and the politics of sex. Through the stories of women from different parts of Africa (South Africa, Zambia, and Nigeria) who identify with sex differently.

Black Women & Sex Short Synopsis

Black Women & Sex explores the sexual realities of three unique women - a South African transwoman, a Nigerian woman raised in a polygamous household, and a Zambian woman imprisoned for a sex tape. Their stories examine the different ways patriarchy impacts women and how self-love and the owning of one’s sexuality can fight against limiting and constraining views on the personal and political level.

Glow Makitsi a transwoman from South Africa began her transition in 2017. The film follows her as she navigates the healthcare system and deals with the emotional labor that comes with the lack of trans representation, her personal relationships, and sex work, When she is arrested after a confrontation at a bar and thrown into a men’s prison for seven days, Glow is thrust into system that doesn’t see her as she truly is. Her story shows how South Africa’s laws and politics impact the trans community.

Olawumi Fakayejois, a Nigerian woman, who was raised in a polygamous home. The way of life has shaped her views on relationships, gender roles and what a happy home looks like to her so much that she sees herself leaning towards a polygamous marriage . However, her mother has something very different in mind for her daughter. Mrs. Fakeyejais, who left Olawumi’s father, is in a finally in mongamous relationship and very much wants the same for her daughter. She also wants her daughter to have a single partner and for her to be vocal about all her needs and wants including sexual.

Iris Kaingu, a Zambian woman, is the daughter of former Minister of Education, Michael Kaingu. When Iris breaks up with her boyfriend, he releases one of their sex tapes. Iris is publicly ridiculed, shamed, arrested and imprisoned for breaking pornography laws while her ex-boyfriend remained free. Upon her release, instead of being quiet, she posts pictures of herself in a bikini and body paint on social media. Iris dives then into politics. as she attempts to change the sexist laws that impacted her. As part of her journey to claiming her sexuality, she attends a traditional camp where older Black women teach younger women about sexual pleasure, as a way to reclaim her sexuality as something positive.