One Take Grace is a long-term cinematic project directed by Lindiwe Matshikiza. After over a decade of spontaneous and collaborative life-writing with Mothiba Grace Bapela, documenting her life as an actor and domestic worker.

Mothiba Grace Bapela’s stories are explored and interpreted in collaboration with artist, Lindiwe Matshikiza, weaving both a complex, intimate portrait of one woman, and a subtle examination of migrancy and South African class, race, economic and social dynamics over the past fifty years.

The two women met as actors on a local film set in 2010. Chatting in between takes, Lindiwe was struck by Mme Bapela’s reflections on her life as a full-time domestic worker and part-time actor. Through a deeply intimate creative process lasting over ten years, a portrait of both the woman and the country began to emerge. Alongside Matshikiza and Bapela, the film boasts an outstanding list of artistic collaborators including editor, Khalid Shamis; sound artist, João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga; vocal historian, Masello Motana; visual artists, Meghan Judge and Daniel Sixte Kakinda; as well as multi-award winning stage and screen designer, Noluthando Lobese.