Cousin Kauna, a must watch

By Rosalia David

NAMIBIAN short film titled ‘Cousin Kauna’, a story about a young married couple residing in London that accommodates the wife’s cousin from Namibia, is surely a smart, moving piece of work.

The film perfectly demonstrates a true Namibian story of how life often takes an immediate twist after losing a loved one.

In most cases orphans end up in broken homes or get sexually molested by their family members while some are fortunate enough to get adopted by a genuinely good family.

In this film directed by Maria Nepembe, Kauna moves to her aunt, Liina’s house in London to start afresh while going through a hard time after her mother’s death. Liina lives with her husband CJ.

A few minutes into the film CJ starts taking advantage of Kauna while she is grieving, a scene that is carried by Nepembe’s narration.

Although it is easy to guess what the storyline is all about at the beginning of the film, it was quite an interesting short film to watch.

It is not one of those exaggerated 20-minute short films; that will bore you in the first two minutes; and it is simple and easy to follow.

I must also say that the actors and actresses in the film are brilliant artists.

On the quality of the film, Cousin Kauna proves that Namibia’s film industry is heading in the right direction as the visuals are pleasing, and one can tell that hard work and dedication was put in the production phase.

Big ups to the team behind this 12-minute short film which is currently on YouTube.