DocNights: 1001 Days + Q&A 18

Kethiwe Ngcobo and Chloe White’s immersive account of the first 1001 days of a child’s life is seen from the perspective of three South African healthcare workers.

Ngcobo and White’s film unfolds in Alexandra, a township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, and charts the work of a group of women – mothers and survivors of abuse – who take on the role of health workers in their local neighbourhood. Thandiwe, Khosi and Zanele help women who have recently given birth, all too aware that the first three years of a child’s life is critical in every way.

Combining intimate footage of the women at work, alongside frank and moving testimonies, 1001 Days offers an insight into the joys, challenges and disturbing reality of everyday life for these brave individuals and the many women they help. It’s an intimate, challenging and unflinching portrait of motherhood and changemaking in modern-day South Africa.