Loide Nantinda Investigates ‘Our Likeness’

There are over three billion women in the world. Mothers, daughters, sisters and friends scattered across the globe raising children, stretching dollars, safeguarding traditions and navigating the rites of passage particular to the corner of earth that we call home.

Yet even as our differences divide us with every mile of distance, there is much in which we are kindred.

Our second class citizenry, the plight and perceived shame of menstruation, the policing of our bodies, the tyranny of beauty standards, the reality of gender-based violence and the constant struggle for self-worth as part of societies in unwavering denial about the extent of our oppression.

For many, the weight of all this manifests in one of two ways: An endless fight amongst ourselves in destructive loops of competition or a banding together in support, acknowledgement and power.

Loide Nantinda was raised to do the latter.

A daughter to a mother of 15, fatherless at nine and raised in the home of her grandmother, the actress, model, producer and director learnt about feminine power at an early age by paying attention to the exploits of her grandmother. The grand matriarch Vistorina who kept her family clothed and fed when her grandfather was sporadically jailed during Namibia’s struggle for liberation.

Today, propelled by the love she found at home and in sisterhoods all over the globe, Nantinda begins the journey of ‘Our Likeness.’

A two-hour documentary film and 15-episode documentary series to be shot in Namibia, China, Ethiopia, Finland, Ghana, Iceland, India, Iran, Mexico, Morocco, Naura, the Philippines, Russia and the USA.

Spanning numerous countries and using crews from within the community to feature a special guest in each nation, ‘Our Likeness’ is an exploration of each location’s culture and way of life as experienced by women.

“The big idea here is that every woman with access to a television or social media can see what women across the world look like and how they live. It’s about gaining insight into their identity and their divinity,” says Nantinda.

“Once they have watched the documentary, every woman should know their value. We may look different and, as unique as we are in terms of culture, we draw from same pool.”

An advocate for uplifting and productive female friendships across colour, country and generational lines, Nantinda who studied Acting for Camera at City Varsity in Cape Town and acquired most of her technical film skills through sheer immersion in South Africa, the UK and the US, believes being a part of group of women is an oft untapped source of strength.

“From my travels, I’ve seen how women connect. When you have that attitude of sisterhood and raising each other up, it’s just magic. The connectedness between women may be invisible but it is there,” she says.

‘You can feel it in that deep longing for another woman’s company, support and acknowledgement. In that knowing. It is not tangible but it’s there. You just have to tap into it.”

Adamant about ‘Our Likeness’ being about women for women’s sake rather than an attempt to position women as better than men, though just beginning, Nantinda maintains that the film is “not an anti-men campaign”.

“This is about talking to each other and learning how to be better wives, grandmothers, sisters, daughters and friends.”

Home from New York after a long stretch of ‘professional exile’ and determined to present Namibia and its talent at a certain level, Nantinda has begun pre-production and shooting with the Himba people of Ruacana alongside Villa, her translator, and her mother.

“One of the most profound moments starting this journey has been the support of my mother. She never really understood what I was passionate about, what film making and creativity is about or even who I really am,” says Nantinda. “Since this journey is about women and for women, having her support and encouragement was super important to me. Victoria, my mother, is the other sister and female rock in my life after my grandmother Vistorina. She has always allowed me to spread my wings and taught me to be strong and independent from a young age.”

Armed with blessings from both her mother and grandmother, Nantinda will soon be making her way across the world in a project funded by those who want to see her dream realised.

Currently generating capital from a GoFundMe page while preparing to travel to her first location with her newly appointed director of photography Lila Swanepoel, Nantinda is excited to reconnect with the women who have agreed to be a part of her journey.

“All the women I will be featuring have an openness and great attitude towards the world. They all have this love and compassion and are moved to do something about their environment,” says Nantinda, who found her special guests or connections quite organically.

A Ghanaian woman working in a grocery store she frequented in New York. A friend of a friend she performed in an off-Broadway show with, her gateway to Finland. Indian friends in Johannesburg.

An Israeli woman with Moroccan ancestry who will show her the northern African country and, among others, Marjorie Casinillo and Ashley Jones who she met through Hillsong NYC.

“I do work with the divine. I am attached to the source. I’m not vain and think I have no guidance,” says Nantinda. “Everyone featured on this project is a friend or a friend of a friend or a connect.”

Connected, inspired and eager to teach women what she already knows to be true, Nantinda hopes to stoke the fires of other ‘Likeness’ projects which will celebrate humanity across the limiting demarcation of colour, creed and country.

“I just want people to be moved and transformed into what the root of and the whole film is about,” she says.

Officially the first project from Nantinda’s Nuusiku Pictures but certainly not the last, ‘Our Likeness’ is currently hair cut short by welcoming Himba women and the first word of a love letter to the feminine experience… here at home and across the world.

Fund ‘Our Likeness’ on gofundme.com, email ourlikeness@gmail.com to hear how you can assist with publicity or sharing of materials. Follow ‘Our Likeness Documentary’ on Facebook, ourlikenessdoccie on Instagram and @ourlikenessdoc on Twitter and visit loidenantinda.org for more information.

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