THE SWENKAS

Jeppe Rønde
Denmark 2004 | 72 Min. | OmeU

This doc­u­men­tary is a story about the Swenkas, a small group of work­ing Zulu men in post-apartheid South Africa. Men who every Sat­ur­day night leave their grimy over­alls behind and wear their best Car­duc­ci or Pierre Cardin suits to impress the weekly select­ed judge. The Swenkas have run this fash­ion show for so many years that no one remem­bers exact­ly when – or even why – it all began. Nor­mal­ly, the prize for best suit and style of the night is money, but on spe­cial occa­sions like Christ­mas the winner walks home with a living goat or even a cow on a leash.