Doccie another step in my healing process says Zephany Nurse: 'a story of hope'

Sara-Jayne King talked to Zephany Nurse before the world premiere of 'Girl, Taken' at the Encounters Documentary Film Festival.

- The documentary "Girl, Taken" premieres at the Encounters Documentary Film Festival on Saturday evening

- It tells the gripping story of Zephany Nurse who was kidnapped as an infant from her mother's hospital bedside and reunited with her biological parents 17 years later

- Sara-Jayne King chats to Nurse about her journey of healing in a moving interview

The story of Zephany Nurse (now known as Miché Solomon) gripped South Africa and the world when she was taken as a newborn from her mother's hospital bedside almost 25 years ago.

Nurse, who grew up as Miche Solomon, and was reunited with her biological parents 17 years after the kidnapping.

WATCH 'I'm not trying to justify what she did,' Zephany Nurse in her own words

Her almost unbelievable life story is the subject of a documentary which has its world premiere at the Labia Theatre on Saturday as part of the Encounters Documentary Film Festival.

Sara-Jane King chatted to Nurse ahead of the premiere about "Girl, Taken".

Gripping Zephany Nurse doccie to premiere at local film festival this weekend

She relates how the family were approached, individually, by the documentary producers in 2015 and 2016.

We obviously did speak to each other about it... It was a very personal decision... I was actually pregnant with my first baby, with my daughter… This was also part of my decision to do the documentary and share my experiences.
Zephany Nurse

I wanted people to actually know what my story was... what the experience was like, and I think it was the same for my biological parents. I do think they had a much stronger story… but it was definitely something I wanted to share with the world and this country.
Zephany Nurse

She explains that the family had a say, contractually, in the final edit of the doccie.

Nurse has also published a book on her life - she says while her healing is still taking place, the memoir and the film have helped on that journey.

I wouldn’t say it's completed healing, but when I do read the book and I’ve seen snippets of the documentary... I’ve seen how much I’ve grown... and also my parents...
Zephany Nurse

What does she want people to take away from this highly emotional film?

Ultimately, it's a story of hope says Solomon.

I want them to see that everybody… got hurt who is in this story and that there is light at the end of the tunnel... Whatever difficult situation you’re going through where you can’t seem to see yourself through that situation, that there is hope...
Zephany Nurse

... definitely also to see how important it is to know what the consequences are of deception and when you’re about to… destroy a person’s life with lies, betrayal and deception. This documentary clearly shows the impact of deception...
Zephany Nurse

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the moving interview