SA documentary in finals of Spanish competition

[caption id="attachment_35497" align="alignright" width="250"] CREATIVE TEAM: Director Twiggy Matiwana, sound director Kgatlhiso Sephiri and cameraman Mapula Sibanda[/caption]

TWIGGY Matiwana may have grown up in Grahamstown but it was an encounter with a family in Mafikeng in the North West that inspired her documentary, Waterless Flower.

Now, the documentary, a Ripple Effect production, is a finalist in the Spanish Film Festival competition.

Writer, producer and director Matiwana, sound director Kgatlhiso Sephiri and cameraman Mapula Sibanda produced, directed and edited the documentary in just two weeks

Waterless Flower tells the story of the Taaibos family – Poppy, 22, her son Kagiso, 4, brother Tebogo, 16, and sister Feye, 11 – who live in unsanitary conditions in a small, one-room shack in Borolatuku Village in Mafikeng. They have no water or electricity.

"I immediately knew this story had to be told. I just couldn't believe their living conditions. What shook me even more was the fact that they had no parents," Matiwana said.

"When we received the brief from the Spanish Festival and Unicef, focusing on water and sanitation, I immediately thought of that family ... I just wanted to get their story out there."

The winners will be announced in Madrid on Monday. The film can be viewed on - Chanice Koopman