The Wound

Eastern Cape. A lonely factory worker, Xolani, travels to a secluded mountain camp near his rural home to participate in a traditional Xhosa initiation into manhood. He is tasked with mentoring Kwanda, a gay teenager from Johannesburg who has grown estranged from his traditional culture. In a ceremony supervised by older men, Kwanda and five other initiates are ritually circumcised. Over the weeks that follow, Xolani tries to teach his rebellious initiate about the ways of Xhosa manhood, but his life is thrown into crisis when Kwanda discovers his secret. Xolani is in love with his best friend Vija, a married man from a nearby village.