Afrikaans old nursery rhyme comes to life
“Siembamba, mamma’s little child, Siembamba mamma’s little child… Twist his neck, throw him in the ditch, step on his head, then he is dead.”
“Siembamba, mamma’s little child, Siembamba mamma’s little child… Twist his neck, throw him in the ditch, step on his head, then he is dead.”
These are the lyrics of the nursery rhymes, Siembamba that many South Africans knows all too well.
Later, the book was written into various versions which left much room for debate because of its horrific and conceivable and descriptive
context.
Now, Phoenix Films, the creators of the Afrikaans movies Treurground, Trouvoete and Mignon Mossie van Wyk, will bring this nursery rhyme to life in a South African produced horror movie.
The story begins in the year 1901. The second year of the Anglo-Boer war where the Boer forces avoided direct contact with the British by
fighting a highly effective revolutionary war.
Frustrated on many fronts, the British command started targeting Boer women and children in a devastating scorched-earth campaign.
But in the small town of Mütter, a few British soldiers took it upon themselves to adopt a policy of rape.
The townswomen waited until the soldiers left, took their children to the forest, and one by one broke their necks.
More than 100 years later, every Afrikaans child in South Africa still grows up singing Siembamba. But the song’s origins stayed buried deep in the indecipherable woods of Mütter.
Samuel Frauenstein, one of the producers of Phoenix Films, said that the idea for the film originated from watching the 2015 release of The Witch (Dir. Eggers). Frauenstein said that South Africa has yet to see a real horror with elements that fit the popular genre.
“Because it has never been done locally, we have sourced for the best director internationally.”
He said they were able to send the script to the well-known horror movie producer, Steven R. Monroe who, according to Frauenstein, “was sold on the concept”.
Siembamba is expected to be premiered on 31 October 2017.
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