For this screening, MansA invites you to discover *The Indomitable Fire of Spring* by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, a landmark work of contemporary African cinema. Set in the mountains of Lesotho, the film follows Mantoa, an octogenarian who opposes a dam project threatening her village, in a story that weaves together spiritual heritage, collective memory, and resistance.
Set for Lesotho, a little-known country in Southern Africa, through a film that blends poetic imagery with the director’s childhood memories. Mantoa, 80 years old, is the eldest resident of a small village nestled in the mountains of Lesotho. When the construction of a dam threatens to submerge the valley, Mantoa decides to defend its spiritual heritage and reignites her community’s spirit of resistance. In the final moments of her life, the legend of Mantoa takes shape and becomes eternal.
The film will be followed by a discussion with Samuel Suffren, a Haitian visual artist, producer, and director, on the future of cinema and the new generation of filmmakers. The discussion will be moderated by Yanis Gaye.
Samuel Suffren is a Haitian visual artist, producer, and filmmaker. His latest video installation, *Le Palais des chants*, was presented at the Louvre Museum in 2025. He is directing a trilogy of short films, inspired by his father’s American dream, which have won awards and been screened at prestigious film festivals around the world. In 2022, Agwe, the first film in the series, was selected for the official competition at the Locarno Film Festival and won the Best Diaspora Film Award at FESPACO, before being screened at some fifty festivals. In 2024, *Des rêves en bateaux papiers*, the second film, was in official competition at the Sundance Film Festival, won over twenty awards, and was selected for around a hundred festivals. *Cœur Bleu*, the third installment, had its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2025 and won the Grand Jury Prize at Clermont-Ferrand in 2026.
Yanis Gaye is a Franco-Senegalese producer and co-founder of Goree Cinema (SN), Strange Fruit Production House (FR), and YETU (Un)Limited, a pan-African film studio. He specializes in international co-productions originating from Africa and its diasporas. His films have been selected for Clermont-Ferrand, FESPACO, and numerous international festivals. An alumnus of EAVE and the Torino Script Lab, he mentors young talent through Durban Talents and the DFM Future Mentors Program, and serves as the educational director for the African focus at Locarno Open Doors 2025.
Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese was born and raised in Hlotse, Lesotho. As a child, he discovered cinema by secretly watching 16mm B-movies in the abandoned movie theater in his hometown. He began writing poetry at a very young age. Self-taught, he went on to direct a trilogy of short films, all of which garnered attention at festivals, followed by two feature films—one documentary, the other a fiction film. In 2020, he won the Best Director award at the Africa Movie Academy Awards for his fiction feature film *L’indomptable feu du printemps* / *This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection*. Today, Mosese has established himself as one of the most distinctive and original voices in contemporary cinema. His films explore spiritual and political themes and are known for their inspired dialogue, powerful poetic imagery, and evocation of childhood memories.
The Indomitable Fire of Spring by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (Lesotho, South Africa, Italy, United States, 2019, 120 min)
