Rob Munday
Part of The Uncertain Kingdom anthology – a collection of short films interrogating British culture – Runyararo Mapfumo’s 11-minute documentary, What’s in a Name, explores the importance of our names, how they shape our identity and what they tell us of our heritage. Centred around six British citizens, all with non-Western names, this is a deceptively simple short that contains a surprising amount of insight and emotion, alongside some striking cinematography.
Having already featured on our site earlier in 2022, with complex family drama Dawn in the Dark (after just missing out with her previous short Masterpiece), Mapfumo returns to our site with this 2020 short, showcasing again why she’s a filmmaker held in such high esteem. Where those aforementioned films demonstrated her talent for fictional narratives, What’s in a Name sees the filmmaker step into the world of non-fiction and again it’s hard not to be impressed by her directorial flair in this latest piece.
As we’re introduced to the interviewees of her piece, the camera glides around their homes, workplaces and general surroundings, casually slipping the viewers into their lives. As we hear the backstories of their names – how they got them, how often they’ve been mispronounced – although a picture is somewhat formed around the prejudice some have experienced because of their distinct names, Mapfumo’s film is not interested in the negatives, but instead wants to rejoice in the positives.
Desta – one of the interviewees in Runyararo Mapfumo’s Whats in a Name
A short that was inspired by her own experiences, Mapfumo reveals, in conversation with Short of the Week, that she was looking to give others with a similar perspective a chance to tell their own stories. “We hear about the challenges and barriers they may have faced due to their names but ultimately *it’s a celebration* of who they are, their heritage, culture and history”, the director explains. Collaborating with her interviewees to create a film which pays tribute to non-Western names, although Mapfumo is eager to highlight the buoyant nature of her short, she also hopes to provoke her audience to “examine the obstacles” those (and others) participating in her film might face in Western society, “particularly in today’s climate”.
What’s in a Name provides plenty to think about, whether you relate directly or indirectly to the subjects discussed within the film. For me personally, although I have a particularly indistinct Western name myself, as someone with a partner whose name is mispronounced by 99% of the people outside of her homeland, there’s so much here I could identify from her own experiences. You don’t need that direct link to the subject though, maybe you know someone who has had similar experiences, maybe you’ve been on the other side, lazily altering someone’s name because of your own discomfort in trying to pronounce it, Mapfumo’s short is such an accessible, captivating piece, it almost feels like her interviewees are talking directly to you. And again, that’s a sign of a director confident in her voice and her message and I’m positive you’ll be hearing a lot more of the name Runyararo Mapfumo in the future.