Seasons of a life - The movie

Seasons of a life - The movie

Produced by Shemu Joyah

A First Dawn Arts Production (Malawi) production

A childless couple, Kondani (Bennie Msuku) and Thoko (Neria Chikhosi), adopt a child from an orphanage. They employ an orphan, Sungisa (Flora Suya), to look after the child. Later Kondani sexually abuses Sungisa and makes her pregnant. He asks her to have an abortion but she refuses and runs away to her aunt’s place. He follows her and tells her that he can support her as long as she does not disclose that he is the father. She agrees and in turn gets financial support from Kondani. When Sungisa gets a scholarship to study at university, Kondani conceives a plan to get his son into his home. He convinces Thoko that they should adopt another child and asks Sungisa to leave her son at an orphanage, where he and Thoko then adopt the child. Thoko has no idea that they have adopted her husband’s son. However, six years later, things come to a head when Sungisa comes back to claim her child. Helped by her sharp-talking feminist friend and lawyer, Tabitha (Tapiwa Gwaza), she sues for custody of the child.

This is a moving story about sexual abuse; the rights of women; the triumph of hope over despair; and the enduring spirit of motherhood.