Cape Town - A movie about the rights of fathers titled, The Daughter, will be hitting local television screens soon.
Castro Musinyali who has a BA law degree and radio experience, based the movie on his own experiences as well as the challenges other fathers like him face daily.
Musinyali is also the founder of ’We Are Fathers, We Are Parents’, an organisation which advocates for the parental rights of fathers.
The movie was funded by the National Arts Council under the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme.
Musinyali’s film is about his fight with the justice system when he applied for custody of his daughter after the mother died in a car accident in August 2017.
He said the child is currently in the care of her grandparents.
“It's not just about my story, that is why I did not title it My Daughter but The Daughter. It is the story of all fathers who face the challenges of parental alienation,” he said.
According to court papers, the child remains in her maternal grandparents' care. Musinyali says he has been denied visitation and is appealing the matter. The application has been filed at the Thohoyandou High Court.
Musinyali hopes his movie will speak for father’s like himself.
“It is a low budget movie but we had to make it possible because of the desire to tell the story of my daughter, and also to raise awareness on how destructive parental alienation is to the lives of children and the targeted parent.
Takalani Phalanndwa plays the lead character Shadrack, veteran actor Seputla Sebogodi plays the judge and Mukhethwa Makwarela appears as the daughter (Wanga/Madambi). Brian Mazibuko plays the grandfather, Donald Aphane while Ms Catherine Mojaki was Ms Lizzy Aphane, the grandmother.
“The story reveals corrupt child care system officials and presiding officers such as judges. The challenge his child faces are systematically designed and hard for Shadrack to manoeuvre around and save his child. Judges are biased. In the course of all this the child is suffering and risks psychological damage as she grows up.
“The best interests of the child are compromised by the ambiguous and sexist justice system. The whole situation affects Wanga’s childhood development, she witnesses the abuse of power by her grandparents and the emotional trauma it’s causing her and her father.
“The child is called by two different names, with her father calling her with his own and the maternal grandparents calling her with their own. Both names have meaning to both these parties. The chief family advocate’s office, situated at the National Department of Justice, promises to rescue the child, a sign they disapprove of corruption and misapplication of the law,” he said.
In 2021, The Presidency confirmed that by March, a total of 532 180 people had benefited from the Presidential Employment Stimulus programme.
If you want to know more about the movie, contact Castro Musinyali on: 072 786 8956, on the We Are Fathers We Are Parents Facebook page or Twitter @WAFW.
Weekend Argus