Mother City Documentary Screening to Spark Vital Conversation on Housing, Belonging and the Future of Cape Town

The hard-hitting cinematic-documentary Mother City, which interrogates the housing crisis, belonging and the future of Cape Town, will be screened at a special event presented by Cape Talk on Wednesday, 18 February at 6pm at the Labia Theatre.  This will be followed by a robust  conversation hosted by no-holds barred broadcast journalist Lester Kiewit of Good Morning Cape Town.

The discussion will unpack the social, political and human stakes raised by the film and what possible pathways there could be to talking frankly about building equal cities. 

From 34 global festivals to powerful impact screenings, Mother City has travelled the world leaving conversations and change in its wake. The film has become a catalyst for change - igniting conversations, inspiring communities, and creating opportunities for tough debates.

The documentary follows activists from Reclaim the City, the social movement fighting for affordable housing in well-located areas of the City in their David versus Goliath struggle against entrenched property power. The film exposes the systems of exclusion that continue to define Cape Town, while calling attention to their fight for dignity, access, and the fundamental right to live in the city.

“Amidst the ever-increasing housing crisis in Cape Town, spurred on by a myriad factors including the surge in the short term-rental market, citizens are asking: “Who is the City for?” and we need answers and tangible solutions,” says Kiewit, the host of Good Morning Cape Town  on Cape Talk. “Mother City forces us to confront uncomfortable but necessary questions about power, belonging and who gets to call Cape Town home. These are conversations we cannot keep having in isolation; they need to happen face-to-face, in shared spaces, with room for listening, disagreement and collective reflection.”

The event reflects Cape Talk’s growing commitment to engage audiences beyond the airwaves, and to foster community-centred gatherings that become part of the City’s cultural fabric — spaces people can return to, participate in, and use to build a shared civic imagination.

“This is about taking conversations that matter out of isolation and into collective space,” says Kiewit “It’s about listening together, thinking together, and imagining our City differently. This is not just an invitation into a vital public conversation about justice for the unhoused in Cape Town.”

Event details:

Labia Theatre, Cape Town

Wednesday, 18 February at 18:00

Tickets: R100

Bookings: https://tinyurl.com/MCCapeTalk