Taking To The Waves As The World Catches Fire
Otelo, a lanky, reticent 16-year-old, is standing on the beach outside Durban, South Africa watching in disbelief and envy as his friend and periodic rival — the older, aggressive Mandla — does what Otelo has only heard of white people doing. Mandla is surfing.
"That's what people mean when they talk about freedom?" Otelo asks, half-heartedly trying to minimize what he's seen as Mandla, elation on his face, rides in on a wave.
When Otelo (Jafta Mamabolo) dares to pick up a surfboard and go out with Mandla (Sihle Xaba), he finds he feels that same sense of open possibility, as the world drops away and leaves only him, the board and the water. It's almost a moment out of time, but the world painfully remains as it is when Otelo returns to the shore: The feeling surfing provides evaporates as he heads back home to Lamontville, a poor, mostly black township south of Durban.
A heavy-handed but forceful coming-of-age story set circa 1989, against the backdrop of the violent beginning of apartheid's end, Otelo Burning examines different paths to freedom — finding it in moments of escape, fighting others for it — and the significant costs inherent in each approach.
Getting out of Lamontville is foremost on Otelo's mind, so he's truly hooked when Kurt (Matthew Oats), a white surfer with a stoner-uncle vibe, observes that with his talent, Mandla could go professional and reap the rewards of contest winnings and sponsorship. A life of swag and room service appeals to Otelo — considerably, given that the lot he can look forward to otherwise is caring for his younger brother Ntwe (Tshepang Mohlomi) and driving his abusive and neglectful father's taxi.
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Otelo, Mandla (Silhe Xaba, center) and New Year escape the turmoil around them by taking to the waves and training to compete professionally.