Alison (film)


Alison is a 2016 South African documentary film directed, written and produced by Uga Carlini. The film is based on the real life abduction, rape, stabbings, abandonment and then survival of Alison Botha in 1994. Botha appears as her older self. The film premiered at the Dances with Films Festival in 2016.

Premise

The documentary is based on the Marianne Thamm book, I Have Life, published by Penguin Random House. Alison combines re-enactments with interviews to tell the story of a South African woman who endured a horrific incident in which she is raped, stabbed and disemboweled. The film’s hybrid style has a fairytale quality, turning participants into archetypes. Built around intimate interview sessions, is a story of “monsters, miracles and hope”. The film goes beyond the horrific events to explore the woman herself and how she helped others through her life.

Cast