Life, Above All - Discussion Guide

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Summary

Twelve-year-old Chanda (Khomotso Manyaka) is waiting at the local morgue to choose a coffin for her baby sister. Sombre-eyed but calm, only her nervous lip-chewing displays the inner turmoil a child her age must face at such a task. And yet her slim shoulders assume the burden that an invalid mother and drunken step-father cannot, or will not, assume themselves. When, after the funeral, her mother remains sick and her father disappears with the family’s savings, it doesn’t take long for the local gossip mongers to start wondering aloud about the kind of ‘disease’ that the family harboured. Hounded by vicious gossip, Chanda’s mother Lillian gives in to the advice of the local witch doctor, and catches the next bus to her hometown, leaving Chanda in charge of the house and her younger step-siblings.

Background

Chanda’s plight is the kind faced every day by at least another 20,000 children her age in South Africa. Orphaned by the AIDS pandemic and with virtually no support from the state, their childhood is spent rearing younger siblings. Moved by their story, author Allan Stratton wrote the critically acclaimed novel Chanda’s Secrets which was the basis for Life, Above All. Whilst researching for the movie, director Oliver Schmitz visited Elandsdoorn where he met Dutch doctor Hugo Tempelman, founder of the local Ndlovu Care Group, an AIDS treatment and educational centre. The DVD extras include an interview with Tempelman, amongst others, detailing the current situation of the pandemic in South Africa. The movie was eventually filmed in Elandsdoorn, using local actors, the younger ones of whom had never even seen a camera before.

Questions for discussion

1. Did you enjoy the movie? Why or why not?

2. How would you describe Lillian’s character? Why do you think she is able to rise to the challenges of her very difficult circumstances, while others around her fail to do so?

3. Did you relate to any characters in the movie? Or did the cultural difference serve to distance you from the characters?

4. What would you say are the main issues that this film seeks to address?

5. Lillian’s sister blames the death of their baby sister on Lillian’s rebellion against her family, using verses from the Bible out of context to back her accusation: ‘As you sow you shall reap, sister. The sins are visited on the children.’ What do you think she meant by this? How would you respond?

6. Why is Lillian so afraid of going to the hospital to be tested for HIV?

7. According to one of the wisest men of all time, ‘The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences’ (Proverbs 18:21). Do we live our lives based on what other people will say? And, just as important, do we indulge in gossip ourselves? How does that affect those around us?

8. Esther has been orphaned by AIDS, and is shunned by the townspeople. When she becomes a prostitute to earn a living, she says ‘They all think I’m doing it anyway. This way I make money.’ How does gossip damage those who are subjected to it, and the community in which they live? How can we help each other not to give in to gossip? How can we become less hasty in judging others based on hearsay or first appearances?

9. Why do you think the term AIDS is not used until quite late in the second half of the movie? Why do people in the film generally refer to it as ‘the illness’ or influenza, TB or ‘that other thing’? Why is it so important for the Chanda to reach a point where she can name the disease before she can fight its influence on her family?

10. What do you think about the idea expressed by some people in the film that AIDS sufferers are bewitched? Can you identify any superstitions or irrational ideas that the western world accepts unquestioningly? Do you see religion as being one of them? Why/why not?

11. What do you think is the significance of the movie title? Jesus said that he had come so that those who believed in him would ‘have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10, NIV). What do you think he meant? How do you feel about this offer?

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