Lone Th&o and cub

Utilizing three songs from South African afrofunk artist Th&o’s debut album, Ebusuku creates a narrative that melds countryside horror and mythic folklore. 

A young man travels down a dark road, a long way from his destination. He stops at a sake bar in the middle of his journey, a roadside stand that serves the traditional Japanese spirit with full ritual, but then the woman serving the drink overpours, and the sake drips slowly off the counter, our first visual queue that all is not as it seems. The scene is blurry, and time itself blurs along with the shot. Like vinyl skipping on a record player, the shots repeat, sliding against each other in clean, sharp cuts. 

Director Aadil Dhalech of Patriot Films has crafted an alternate universe that sees an Afro-Ronin escaping the city, only to be sucked into a new supernatural force. The three songs used in the film change according to the atmosphere, but beautiful, bold visuals stand out, and the film feels both warm and very lonely. 

“One of the greatest challenges the team faced during production, apart from pulling it off with next to no money,  was successfully creating the feeling of a none space, or isolation, in the film. This was nearly impossible as the shooting location was surrounded by lights from towns and farms nearby. VFX and Finishing Artist, Blake Prinsloo, ended up painting every single light out. 63 shots I think; Three hours each. Sorry Blake,” said Dhalech.