Zulu Summer

“The Zulus are coming,” Dark Sevier, a local DJ for public radio in Butte, Montana, announces to listeners one evening in May, 2017. By this point, everyone in the small town had been eagerly following the strange and curious series of events that would eventually bring a Zulu prince from Nongoma, South Africa, to their town of 30,000-some-odd people. Initially thought to be something along the lines of a Nigerian e-mail scam, what would actually transpire would become a monumental moment for a cross-cultural exchange. Set against the backdrop of turmoil and divisiveness in the Age of Trump, Zulu Summer reaffirms the value of humanity’s common ground. This story, about people from opposite sides of the planet coming together in an attempt to understand and learn from one another, is both vital and urgent in our current global landscape. (Santa Barbara International Film Festival)