ROUTES/ROOTS

A film by Alexandra Knight

Gazing out over the Valley of Desolation in the Karoo desert, KOOS MALGAS reminisces as he remembers his old employer and friend HELEN MARTINS. Nestled between the Sneeuberg mountains in the dusty town of Nieu Bethesda, Helen, childless and alone has not given up on life. Instead, she is driven by a dream to change her dull and ostracised life into a vibrant and fantastical world. But she cannot do this alone. Koos, an alcoholic itinerant sheepshearer is employed by Helen to help transform her family home into what she calls, the Owl House.  

But their union is not an easy one. Where Helen is female, Koos is male, where Helen is white, Koos is coloured, where Helen interrogates and questions religion, Koos is a devoted Christian. They come to terms and explore their differences despite the condemnation of their small conservative community. In creating hovering owls and glittering peacocks, Buddhas and colourful wise men, textured camels and meccas, sultry maidens and enticing mermaids, they begin to escape the confines of apartheid; questioning and challenging one another as they explore the world of their imagination, a realm that exists further than the borders of South Africa, into the east, and beyond...

Voice Overs by: Duncan Johnson (as Koos Malgas) & Frances Slabolepszy (as Helen Martins).