Future Tense

Cape Town, South Africa. In a near future on the brink of climate collapse, Lwando (Lawrence Maleka) and his girlfriend Tara (Kristen Raath) are among the privileged few who win the opportunity to travel back to 1647 and a pre-colonial past to experience nature in its wildest form. Lwando is an underground activist who dreams of changing the course of history. Tara wants to save her relationship with him. Together, the couple must choose whether to risk life as they know it for a potentially better world.

At a time when the climate crisis has become a priority for some and an excuse for others to conquer space, Jenna Cato Bass (TIFF ’19’s Flatland and TIFF ’21’s Good Madam) returns to the Festival with an extremely insightful and inspiring science fiction film. Exploring not only humanity’s ability to shape the future but also its potential to destroy itself, the South African director invites us on a thrilling journey through time, enhanced by masterful cinematography (Jared Lawson-Paisley) and editing (Jacques de Villiers).

Both the past and the future are filled with threats, visible and invisible. It takes courage to face them — particularly as a mixed-race couple in South Africa’s violent and complex past. By pitting the intricacies of a romantic relationship against the imperatives of environmental activism, Bass simultaneously explores current events and universal human truths.

CLAIRE DIAO