Troopship Tragedy - Promo

Описание: It is February 1917. To provide logistical support on the front, a troopship of volunteers from the South African Native Labour Contingent is sent to France. The men never arrive. Their vessel, the SS Mendi, sinks in a tragic accident in the English Channel. More than 600 men perish, the majority of them black South Africans of diverse tribal origins.
This incident, minor though it may seem to be against the backdrop of the Great War, still troubles some South African communities today. A story endures of what happened in the final hours before the volunteers drowned, when a charismatic Xhosa priest called the men to dance a warrior dance on deck as they ship sunk into the freezing water.
A young storyteller Zwai Mgijima takes the burden of this story onto his shoulders. While writing a play about the SS Mendi, he seeks answers from the old people who still live in the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape to fill out the record of this tragedy. Zwai goes on a journey to put the story to rest, he travels from rural Pondoland to England to find the SS Mendi on the sea bed. Joining forces with another South African, a marine archaeologist called John Gribble, he intends to disturb the slumber of that watery grave.