Every year, over a hundred talented law students from across the African continent gather in a different capital city to compete at the prestigious Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition, the largest mock court competition in Africa. Here, young aspiring lawyers act as both prosecution and defense in a cutting-edge fictional human rights court case, each hoping to win the case and bring back the trophy to their home country. African Moot follows four passionate teams from Cape Town, Cairo, Kampala and Nairobi during their months of preparation for a case dealing with refugee rights. The film joins them on their journey to Botswana, where they converge for one intense week of legal oratory, debate, adventure, bonding and high emotion, leading to a dramatic finale before international judges at Botswana’s highest court. 

It is a high-stakes mock legal battle played out in the constitutional court, where the prize is glory in a continent-wide contest called the African Moot. The story follows the emotional journey of Africa's future human rights law students as they gather to debate the human rights issues currently facing Africa. We follow the fierce competitors as they analyse and present their arguments using real-life constitutional cases brought before African courts. It illustrates the experiences of participants by offering insights into their individual motivations, and by sharing their own personal stories relating to the competition themes of displacement and sexuality.

African Moot is produced by Shameela Seedat and Francois Verster for Undercurrent Film and Television (South Africa) and Don Edkins and Tiny Mungwe for STEPS (South Africa) in coproduction with Juha Lopponen and Venla Hellstedt for Tuffi Films (Finland)

Book a Ticket at Bioscope 

The Bioscope at 44 Stanley
44 Stanley Avenue, Braamfontein Werf
Johannesburg, Gauteng 2092

Book a Ticket at The Labia Theatre

68 Orange St, Gardens
Cape Town
8000

For more information, please visit: encounters.co.za