RONA

Pina Bausch Centre under construction, Bundesallee 260, Wuppertal
Free admission!

A film by: Gaby Saranouffi, deufert&plischke, Moeketsi Koena and Thabiso Heccius Pule.
Followed by a discussion with the artists deufert&plischke.

Following its acclaimed premiere in the heart of Soweto, RONA now comes to Europe for the first time – with Wuppertal as its opening stop.

RONA (Sesotho: together / we) is more than a film: it is a collective experience, shaped by South African artists Gaby Saranouffi and Moeketsi Koena. Moving between everyday life, dance, music, and community work, it unfolds a multi-layered portrait of Johannesburg – raw, poetic, and immediate.

Developed within the community performance project Ballroom Bliss, which was also presented last year at the Pina Bausch Centre under construction, the film centers voices that are too often unheard: women and children navigating the realities of poverty and gender-based violence while finding their own forms of expression. Filmed across three distinct locations in the city, RONA interweaves dance, music, and spiritual practices into a powerful cinematic narrative.

More than 40 local participants contributed to the film, which emerged from an intensive on-site collaboration—during which the Ronacollective (Johannesburg / Wuppertal) was also founded.

RONA invites audiences to experience Johannesburg from perspectives that often remain unseen—and raises questions about the role of contemporary art in ongoing dialogues with cultural traditions and the resistances of everyday life

Ein-Kanal-Video, 50 Min., Farbe, Ton
verschiedene Sprachen mit englischen Untertiteln
2026 (ZAF, D)

Production: I’Trotra Art X Connection Johannesburg / deufert&plischke – spinnereischwelm / dpsp studio Schwelm / Co-production: Pina Bausch Centre under construction Wuppertal / Ballroom Bliss Soweto was funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of the export funding program 2025.

https://www.deufertandplischke.net/
https://www.ronacollective.net/