The screening saw a large audience filling up seats, standing at the back of the hall and even sitting on the floor to catch a glimpse of the film. Speaking to Desert Radio on Tuesday, Shilongo said the inspiration behind the film stemmed from her love for period films and the nostalgia associated with the stories told around the fire when she was a child. “I’ve always been drawn to period films and I grew up sitting around the fire with my parents and cousins telling scary stories, so that has always stuck with me,” she said.
Shilongo highlighted finances as the most challenging aspect of making the film and said she had to call in favours when approaching actors as cast members. She also noted the difficulty of the actors portraying emotion without using words in the no-dialogue film. “That was something we all had to sit down, workshop and find out how exactly we would do this,” Shilongo said.
She encouraged women in the film industry to grab opportunities to ensure their stories are told. “For a very long time, women have not been given the opportunity to sit around the tables where the big decisions were made. And if we are allowed in the room, we are told to sit in the corner.
For me, it’s very important to include women in these conversations,” she said. Set in a world inspired by mythical creatures and folklore, ‘Momeya’ stars Ute-Yan Smith as the village girl Letu, Bret Kamwi as Letu’s love interest Tala and Ebba Shambwila as the water goddess. .