I Am Not a Witch

(Rungano Nyoni, UK/France/Germany/Zambia 2018, 93 min., 35mm, English and Nyanja w/subtitles)

Rochester Premiere. When eight-year-old Shula turns up alone and unannounced in a rural Zambian village, the locals are suspicious. A minor incident escalates to a full-blown witch trial, where she is found guilty and sentenced to life on a state-run witch camp. There, she is tethered to a long white ribbon and told that if she ever tries to run away, she will be transformed into a goat. As the days pass, Shula begins to settle into her new community, but a threat looms on the horizon. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision—whether to resign herself to life on the camp or take a chance on freedom. The United Kingdom’s official entry into the 2019 Foreign Language Film Oscar race.

Also showing: Friday, November 16.