Fitting in

In this carefully observed film, a group of young South African men from various walks of life begin their student experience at the elite University of Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch held a central place in academic life during the apartheid era and continues to be seen as a stronghold of white-Afrikaner privilege in post-apartheid South Africa. But beyond the structural racism that continues to define life in Stellenbosch and in the country as a whole, the campus has been the site of numerous incidents of racist violence over the last few decades. Fitting in spends a year with the residents of Eendrag, a male residence, which, like the rest of the campus, is steeped in colonial traditions—something that many of the new generation think needs changing. This is a timely film, whose explorations of masculinity through the lens of race, class and tradition will resonate far beyond the borders of South Africa.