## Rachel Kolisi takes Falling Forward to London as roadshow reaches SA diaspora

Rachel Kolisi is taking a South African story of resilience, identity and starting again to a new audience.

Her Falling Forward roadshow is heading to London on November 19, marking an international chapter for a documentary experience that has already travelled across South Africa and connected with thousands of people.

The London screening will take place at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church and will combine the documentary with a live conversation about resilience, growth and moving forward.

For South Africans living abroad, the stop offers something else too: an opportunity to experience a homegrown story in a room filled with people who may recognise its themes even while living thousands of kilometres from home.

What is Falling Forward about?

The Rachel Kolisi documentary is built around the idea that difficult experiences do not have to define what happens next.

According to Kolisi’s official website, Falling Forward explores identity, loss, healing, motherhood, courage and rediscovery.

It is deliberately broader than one event in her personal life.

The documentary looks at different seasons that have shaped Kolisi and the process of losing and rediscovering parts of herself.

“We all fall,” she says in the project’s official description. “But how we choose to move forward is what defines us.”

The screening experience also takes the story beyond the film itself.

Audiences watch the documentary before joining a live conversation in which Kolisi discusses its themes and reflects on resilience and purpose.

Earlier South African editions also incorporated women-led markets, creating opportunities for female entrepreneurs alongside the screening.

From Makhanda to London

The Falling Forward roadshow began at the Guy Butler Theatre in Makhanda on March 4.

Its first run travelled through Makhanda, Gqeberha, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

According to IOL, more than 4,000 people attended the first tour, with four of those five events selling out.

Now the project is moving beyond South Africa.

Kolisi announced that the London edition will take place on November 19, telling followers that she was excited about being in the room with the audience.

The evening will be hosted by Nkateko “Takkies” Dinwiddy, the South African dancer, creative and entrepreneur based in the UK.

Takkies has built her own community through Rockingnheels, which uses dance and movement to create spaces focused on women, confidence and connection.

Singer-songwriter Anica Kiana is also scheduled to perform during the London event.

Why London matters

Taking the project to London changes the audience without necessarily changing the message.

The UK has a significant South African community, meaning cultural events can become points of connection for people living away from home.

That makes the London screening more than simply another date on a tour calendar.

For members of the South Africa diaspora, stories from home can carry a different weight when experienced abroad.

Language, humour, familiar personalities and shared cultural references can help people maintain connections with South Africa even after they have moved elsewhere.

But Falling Forward also deals with themes that travel easily.

Starting again, questioning your identity, carrying responsibility, asking for help and finding purpose after difficult periods are not uniquely South African experiences.

That gives the London screening the opportunity to speak both to South Africans who already know Kolisi's story and to people encountering the project for the first time.

Creating a space for honest conversations

Kolisi has continued to emphasise that the project is about connection rather than presenting a perfect picture of resilience.

Ahead of the London event, she spoke about the pressure women can feel to remain strong while carrying multiple responsibilities.

“Being a woman shouldn’t mean carrying everything and making it look easy,” she wrote in a recent post.

Her message was that resilience can include admitting when something has become too heavy and accepting support from others.

That idea fits the format of the roadshow.

Instead of simply screening a documentary and sending audiences home, the events create room for discussion afterwards.

The London edition is advertised as a documentary screening followed by a live Q&A, allowing people in the audience to participate in that conversation.

SA stories find audiences beyond SA

The London date also shows how South African cultural projects can travel with the country's diaspora.

Music has long done it. Comedy does it. Theatre and film increasingly do it too.

When South Africans living overseas gather around a familiar story, the event can become both entertainment and a connection to home.

Falling Forward now enters that space.

It began as a deeply personal documentary, grew into screenings and conversations across South African cities and is now moving into an international room.

For Kolisi, the message remains centred on what happens after life changes unexpectedly: acknowledging the fall without deciding to remain there.

For the London audience on November 19, that conversation will simply be happening a little further from home.