Khethi’s Second Death follows, Khethiwe a newlywed who has a series of miscarriages and then finally a still birth.

In her remote village, she is now known as a woman who is cursed and is endangering her husband’s  Malusi, the chief’s son, bloodline.

Plagued - she is tasked with driving the curse out of her by performing three cleansing rituals, to save her marriage and her place within the community. How far will she go to be pure again while grieving the loss of her son?

Set and filmed in South Africa with post production to completed in London. Filming in January 2026.

Khethi’s Second Death is a is a meditation on infinite grief, the kind that never leaves, and that keeps you suspended in time. The film is about a young woman’s struggle after having a stillbirth. The theme of the film reflects a truth, I feel deeply - that grief never truly disappears specifically the loss of life. This type of grief only shifts and inevitably resurfaces. We learn to build our lives around the loss, in an attempt to move forward. I wanted to channel that feeling into a story that speaks to women’s bodies, the pressure to conceive, and the shame that lingers when those expectations cannot be met.

A miscarriage in this film is not only a personal tragedy, but a mirror for societal and cultural pressures. Khethiwe and Malusi's private wound is a public burden. Both men and women carry expectations to continue the bloodline, and this weight becomes inescapable. The film is set in a post-apartheid context in a rural village in Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa. In the dawn of a new democratic age, Zulu tradition, Christian religion and cultural silence intersect.

Aesthetically, I am drawn to stillness, to moments that feel etched in time. Shooting on 16mm film allows us to capture images that are textured and almost carved into memory. I imagine long takes and compositions that let the environment breathe as a character itself. The natural world in this film is not a backdrop but it holds its own spiritual presence, shaping the story alongside the characters.

Production design will root the film, embed cultural details and references within the frame. While, I want to acknowledge elements of magical realism, my approach leans toward grounding these moments in the real. By using practical effects rather than artifice will blur the line between the real world and the spiritual, much like the film’s genre.

Sound, too, is central. I want silence to hold as much weight as sound, and when music and sounds does emerge, it will be drawn from the community — naturalistic sounds, traditional instruments, hymns, and songs that exist between the sacred and the everyday.

Ultimately, this film is a portrait of grief and resilience. It asks what it means to carry loss within you, and how culture, family, and time itself both shape and fracture that journey. I want the audience to question cultural superstitions, how and where grief sits in our body and how it shifts and resurfaces.

This project is an ambitious film that seeks to showcase grief through a South African cultural lens. Shooting a student film on 16mm in South Africa is extremely rare. There are no motion picture labs in the country, which means all exposed film must be transported back to London for processing and scanning. This presents a significant logistical and financial challenge — but it also demonstrates our dedication to the craft and to honouring this story by shooting it on film.

The narrative includes elements of magical realism that illuminate Khethiwe’s grief and the power of the rituals she must perform. To bring this to life authentically on 16mm, we will prioritise practical effects over digital effects, embracing a handmade and tactile approach.

Your support and involvement will make a profound difference. It will not only help us overcome the financial and logistical limitations of working with 16mm film but will also allow us to pay our crew fairly and invest in local South African talent. By contributing, you help create opportunities for emerging filmmakers, technicians, and artists who are essential to telling this story.

Mishka Mahomed is a South African director and writer based in London, currently completing an MA in Filmmaking at the London Film School. Her work spans fiction, documentary, and experimental cinema, with a particular focus on female-led narratives. She has directed shorts on 16mm and a 10-minute documentary, and recently produced a 35mm film noir thriller. Her practice combines a strong grounding in writing with a collaborative approach to directing, creating films that are bold, intimate, and deeply human.

Chloe Turner is a Johannesburg-based producer who began her career in styling for film and television. She then evolved to discover her passion for closing the gap and creating bridges of opportunity for new talent and creatives in the production industry-advocating for fair compensation for talent across the African continent. Chloe focuses on human centric production, valuing the team behind the creative and building ethical relationships with the communities we shoot in. 

Federico Micheletti is an Italian cinematographer based in London. He discovered that his voice as a DoP is defined by the narrative’s use of light. At the London Film School, he has specialised in cinematography and gaffing, with a strong focus on shooting on film. He has DoP two 16mm, 35mm short films. Federico is committed to growing as an artist so he can tell meaningful stories through light. Above all, he sees cinematography as the art of shaping feeling through light.