The Forgotten Kingdom
Conscious Cinema Spotlight – The Forgotten Kingdom
Directed by Andrew Mudge
Atang reluctantly leaves the slums of the big city to bury his estranged father in the remote, mountainous village where he was born. Befriended by an orphan herd-boy and stirred by memories of his youth, he falls in love with his childhood friend, Dineo, now a radiant young teacher. Through her, Atang is drawn to the mystical beauty and hardships of the people, and faces his own bittersweet reckoning.
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Director’s Statement
Vast and rugged landscapes. Horsemen wrapped in blankets moving through snow peaked valleys. Thatched-hut villages lost in time. In The Forgotten Kingdom, I wanted to make a film that was primarily visual, told through the colors of the land and the faces of the Basotho people. My own experience of discovering this mostly overlooked country called Lesotho was like finding something exquisitely beautiful and unique. I wanted to convey that experience to an audience through the journey of the main character, Atang Mokoenya. This is a man who unwillingly experiences a life transformation when he returns to a place that had he long ago chosen to forget. He meets a radiant young woman, Dineo, a spark from his past, and the subsequent events anchor him to his homeland in a mystical way. The characters he meets, from the nameless orphan boy to the old woman afflicted by a witch doctor’s curse—they are mirrors to Atang’s inner journey. The lyrical, allegorical style of storytelling I pplied was inspired by films such as John Sayles’s Men With Guns, David Lynch’s The Straight Story, and Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout.
