ZEF: The Story of Die Antwoord

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I became utterly fascinated with Yolandi & Ninja when they released their first album. Some of their darker visuals disturbed me, but their unique vision is so uninhibited & raw that it drew me in fully. When I heard about the allegations levelled at them by Zheani, a rapper in her own right, things changed. Not to mention their adoptive son, Tokkie, coming out with his own disturbing experience living with them. So here I was, ready to watch the documentary with an open mind and hear their side.... and... it's just a vanity project. Plain and simple. That's not to say director Jon Day didn't do a good job here. He infused the documentary with some very surreal and beautiful imagery, as well as showcasing their own artistry. HOWEVER, they focused too much on their failed relationship and only dedicated 3 minutes to address Tokkie's allegations against them in a way that felt so disingenuous and straight up victim-blaming (in my opinion anyway). This documentary is a poorly executed attempt at image rehabilitation. Simple as that. And this is where Jon Day drops the ball. He didn't probe them enough, he just let them weave this tale of love lost and uses emotional music to drive the point of this documentary home. Now I feel like there's no going back for them. This was the moment to show remorse, to accept the fact they have harmed people along their very chaotic rise and subsequent fall of their career. I will always admire their artistic work, their Lynchian performance art, their one of a kind musical output, all of that. But this is their last hurrah. Their image is permanently stained by their highly disturbing behaviour. God bless and keep 16.t.

I saw Die Antwoord earlier this year in Brixton where they performed in a surprisingly tight venue for two packed nights. They presented 16 in between acts as some kind of angel figure and made a lot of effort to connect to the crowd to see how much rapport they still had. Ninja referred to the controversies in a rap bit about the homophobia accusations being off since their DJ is gay, and the best part in the doc is that he himself gets to clarify he did not want to hog the spotlight once the group became famous. 16 talks about her depression once her parents separated and is presented as the reason they got back together. I'm not sure what to think about her narration and the way she is used to hold the film together. The last frame is a clip of her as a toddler saying "Mommy my heart is fixed". But she is 18, old enough to make her own decisions. I hope. Ninja and Yolandi talk in an excessively controlled and staged manner, that's not going to help to dispel the bad rep. Ninja's Jesus attire is way over the top. They mention the abuse allegations of their warden son Tokkie but he himself doesn't get to speak his piece. There is an envy narrative in rap music, told by black ZA artists in what feels like carefully staged PR. There is no comment on the sexual misconduct allegations against Ninja. It would have been appropriate to at least mention Zheanni since she reported him for assault and they can't perform in Australia because of that. So all in all, this is a visually impressive PR piece to assist the comeback of the most wildly innovative act of the 2010s. But it doesn't comment on Waddy Jones' behavior which is OK if you think art and artist should be viewed separately. If you're a fan it's a nice companion piece, it you look for answers you won't find them here.

source: ZEF: The Story of Die Antwoord