Jerusalema: From Austria to Zimbabwe

Directed by Su Friedrich

Jerusalema: From Austria to Zimbabwe is a loving look back at a viral phenomenon that burst out during the Covid pandemic: The Jerusalema Dance Challenge. After Master KG–a South African musician and record producer–wrote a beat, and Nomcebo Zikode wrote the lyrics, and the Angolan dance troupe Fenómenos do Semba created a line dance (as seen above), people all over the world started posting videos of their group dancing. Hundreds of them. On airport runways, in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, at the beach, in churches and monasteries, on game reserves, in town squares, fire stations, police stations….anywhere and everywhere from Austria to Zimbabwe. I was very moved when I discovered the videos during the pandemic, so I wanted to celebrate how so many people took up the challenge and danced with joy and hope.