Film & Talk - Special: Breathe Umphefumlo

In Breathe Umphefumlo, director Mark Dornford reinterprets Puccini's famous opera “La Bohème” and transposes it to South Africa. A special screening on the occasion of the Action Weeks Against Racism in cooperation with Omas gegen rechts e.V. Berlin.

In 1976, the two students Mimi and Lungelo meet at the university in Soweto and fall in love. They dream of a future together. But everyday life in their South African homeland is hard, dominated by the struggle for food, shelter, and medical care. When Mimi contracts tuberculosis, she initially keeps it a secret. As her condition worsens, she breaks up with Lungelo, but finds a friend in Zoleka, who stands by her.