Award-winning films from Generation Africa for Durban International Film Festival 2022

The pan-African documentary project Generation Africa, will feature four films at the Durban International Film Festival - a hybrid event this year – with both cinema and virtual screenings from 21 to 31 July, 2022.  Generation Africa is a collection of 25 films produced by Cape-own production company STEPS, and directed and produced by filmmakers from 16 African countries, featuring stories about migration.

The films, which are all in the DIFF’s documentary competition selection, include the winner of the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival Programmers’ Choice Award for Best South African/African documentary and the Adiaha Award - No Simple Way Home (Kenya / South Sudan / South Africa) directed by Akuol de Mabior.  

The other films are African Moot (South Africa) directed by Shameela Seedat, No U-turn (South Africa, Nigeria, France, Germany) directed by Ike Nnaebue and Taamaden, The Walking Child (Cameroon / Mali / France / Belgium / South Africa) directed by Seydou Cisse.

No Simple Way Home directed by Akoul de Mabior

De Mabior’s film, No Simple Way Home, which also won the DOK.horizonte prize at DOK.fest München 2022 pays tribute to her parents and her home country – South Sudan where her father was a revolutionary leader whose movement led to the foundation of South Sudan, and her  mother became one of the five vice presidents of the country's so-called unity government in 2020.

No U-turn directed by Ike Nnaebue

The critically acclaimed first documentary film of Nollywood director Ike Nnaebue, No U-turn, won Special mention of the documentary jury at this year’s Berlinale. The film follows the road travelled by the director more than two decades before seeking greener pastures through irregular migration to Europe. Nnaebue turned back when told about the dangers that lay ahead, and now he goes on the route to see why young people still go this route.

Taamaden, the Walking Child directed by Seydou Cisse

Seydou Cisse’s Taamaden, the Walking Child, follows young immigrants from West Africa, who faced the daunting and dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean, thanks to their marabout or spiritual guides who guide them in prayers and rituals.

 African  Moot  directed by Shameela Seedat

Director of the award-winning film Whispering  Truth to Power, Shameela Seedat’s African  Moot delves into the complexities of migration law in Africa, as aspiring lawyers gather to debate in the annual African Human Rights Moot Court Competition. 

For DIFF, Taamaden will have one “in-person” screening at Suncoast CineCentre on Tuesday, 26 July at 2pm. Taamaden and the other 3 films will be screened online from the DIFF digital platform on durbanfilmfest.com. All screenings are free.

For more information on the Durban International Film Festival or to book go to durbanfilmfest.com, and for Generation Africa go to https://steps.co.za/projects/generation-africa/

Film - Deliver Me - poetic meditation on the migration of a Malawian man for Encounters Film Fest

Deliver Me screening at Encounters Documentary Film Festival

Paper Cranes Collective and Ctrl Alt Shift are proud to announce that their first collaboration, Deliver Me, has been selected to screen at this year’s Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival where it will have its world premiere.  Directed by Jannous Aukema (Until The Silence Comes and The Jaguars Daughter), the film was conceived, filmed, and edited during South Africa’s LockDown level 4. Made for under R20,000 and a four-man crew, the project is a unique take on the documentary storytelling format.  

“We are honoured and very pleased to have our project Deliver Me, screen at such a prestigious festival such as Encounters, a festival that plays such a key role not only in the continental festival calendar but also for documentaries in our local industry,” said Mitchell Harper, Ctrl Alt Shift producer of the film. “The film’s collaborative nature, along with its unusual approach to story-telling and financing will hopefully readjust many to how we approach not only filmmaking but help shift our understanding of what trials many go through in a bid to survive everyday life.” 

Co-produced by companies in Durban and Cape Town, Deliver Me is a 25-minute film, a poetic meditation on the migration of a Malawian man, who has come to South Africa to find a future for himself and his family. We follow Paul Mwasi through the evening streets, restaurants, and suburbs he navigates as an Uber delivery bike rider, during the coronavirus hard lockdown in Cape Town, South Africa. We come to see that he is a man driven by love for his family, whom he remains in contact with through his cellphone, his digital lifeline to those he has left behind. His work and the conditions he toils in are solitary. In many ways, Paulʼs journey as witnessed in the film is a signifier not only of the struggles of isolation in an unknown place but more generally of the lonesome months of a world pandemic.  

The film will be available to view free at Encounters on their digital platform from 10-20 June, and is available on the African continent throughout the festival period as part of their 24/7 section. 

To find out how to watch Deliver Me, go  to Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival, https://encounters.co.za/film/deliver-me/

You can see the teaser of the film through this link: https://vimeo.com/558692412

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The Art of Fallism Documentary @ Durban International Film Festival Online

The Art of Fallism

SA/Norwegian Documentary has African Premiere at

Durban International Film Festival Online

(From 10 – 20 September)

The Art of Fallism, a South African/Norwegian documentary, that teases out the nuanced, yet deeply complex stories of those who struggle for a voice within the collective struggle for equality will have its African premiere at the 41st Durban International Film Festival which takes place online from 10 to 20 September 2020. 

A debut film by Norwegian director Aslaug Aarsæther, and the second film for Icelandic/Norwegian co-director Gunnbjørg Gunnarsdóttir, with two womxn producers Cape Town-based Wisaal Abrahams of Pink Rock Media and Norwegian Ingvild Aagedal Skage of Isme Film. 

The film premiered at HOTDOCS in Canada earlier this year and has been nominated for ‘Best Documentary' at the Queer Lisboa Festival which takes place in September. It will also compete in the “New Filmmakers Competition” at São Paulo International Film Festival.

The Art of Fallism emerged and evolved from the Norwegian film-makers questioning the absence of debates around equality, race, and gender and how they relate, in their own country. The film uses the 2015 #RhodesMustFall movement in South Africa, as its point of departure, while using the voice of the artist as a metaphor for the desire for understanding, capacity, and change.

The #RhodesMustFall uprising began at the University of Cape Town, as a challenge to the presence of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes. Student, Chumani Maxwele, by throwing faeces onto the statue, protests against its presence and colonial representation and by extension its insidious manifestation in education in the country. This launches a student movement to topple the statue and the colonial education system entrenched within the establishment, which reaches other tertiary institutions around South Africa. 

In understanding this struggle the students realised that education is systemically flawed by its exclusions of those who are not financially privileged to access it. Enter the #FeesMustFall movement which targeted the concept of student fees demanding an increase in funding to tertiary institutions across the country. 

These events awakened a new generation of activists connected by a common cause, bringing together people from myriad backgrounds including young township men, feminists, and the trans community, all who wanted to revolutionize a racist and systematically unequal South Africa.  

“While the students marched, protested and staged sit-ins, political art practices, under the banner of “Fallism,” began to push the limits of critical thought,” explains co-producer Wisaal Abrahams. “The students began to question the hyper-masculine approach to the movement, and its expression through art to the exclusion of the queer, trans, and femme artists. The Art of Fallism, engages with some of these individuals who refused to allow the movement and its off-shoots to carry on without them.”

“What is evident is that this generation of youth is fatigued by apartheid legacies,” says co-producer Ingvild Aagedal Skage. “And what the students experience individually and collectively, within the context of the movement, is a representation of the vast inequality amongst South Africans - a place where voices are not heard and honoured, and people have to resort to acts of violence or disruption to make their point”.

The final act of disruption is dramatically illustrated, a year later as transgender activists, feeling side-lined and ignored, capture an art exhibition celebrating the movement to be consciously included, but instead, they are blamed for destroying it. The movement is left hanging in uncertainty, much like the future of a free and equal South Africa. 

“It is a highly complex space, where the collective goal remains the focus, yet the individual groups within this, experience exclusionary politics. The very thing they desire to dismantle,” says Wisaal Abrahams. ‘And the very thing we were incredibly challenged with when making this film.”

“As a black womxn producer it was essential for me to come on board this project, to support the process of the making of the film. As we all seek glory and recognition for our stories, we also need to understand that the colonial models on which we based this success on, haven't considered the imbalance of power when retelling them. Our stories must have guardianship that honours this, and we believe we have been able to do this in telling these stories.”

Producers Wisaal Abrahams and Ingvild Aagedal Skage will feature in an “Engage” session at the 11th Durban FilmMart virtual edition (4 - 13 September) where they will speak candidly about their experience and the notion of de-colonial approaches to storytelling which became a strong guiding tool for their production process. 

The Art of Fallism will be streamed from the DIFF online platform from 10 to 20 September. The DIFF films are free, with limited tickets available, and booking is essential.

https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/film/the-art-of-fallism/

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Buddha in Africa - Award-winning documentary for Cape Town

Media Release

Award-winning documentary for Cape Town

The award-winning documentary, Buddha in Africa, directed by KwaZulu-Natal filmmaker Nicole Schafer, which scooped the Best SA Documentary at the Durban International Film Festival in July, and won an Audience Choice Award at Encounters in June this year, is coming to Cape Town in August. It will be screened at the Silwerskermfees, the Labia Theatre, Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education in Mowbray and Isivivana Centre in Khayelitsha.

Buddha in Africa follows Enock Alu, a Malawian teenager growing up in a Chinese Buddhist orphanage, who feels torn between his African roots and Chinese upbringing. Set against China's expanding influence on the continent, Buddha in Africa provides a unique insight into the forces of cultural soft power on the identity and imagination of an African boy and his school friends growing up between two cultures.

Buddha in Africa is an international co-production with Momento Films in Sweden, has the Paris based sales company CAT and Docs representing the film internationally and AfriDocs as its African broadcast partner.

The film’s latest Best SA Documentary Award automatically qualifies it for a consideration for an Oscar nomination, as the DIFF is one of the qualifying festivals for the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences.

The Silwerskerm screening takes place at the Theatre on the Bay on Friday 23 August at 12:15.   Full day pass: R175.00

https://online.computicket.com/web/event/kyknet_silwerskermfees/1326589081/624439394

The Labia Theatre screening takes place on Sunday 25 August at 2:30 pm. The filmmaker will be in attendance for a Q&A after the event.  Tickets R60.00. Limited Seats. Book online: http://webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=1493520470  

The Documentary Filmmakers Association will screen the film at its docLOVE event at the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education, in Mowbray on Thursday 29 August at 6pm. Those interested in documentaries as well as learning more about the DFA are encouraged attend. Free entrance. Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education, 67-69 Main Road, Mowbray. Free entrance. Contact: mikiinthecity@gmail.com or theresa@steps.co.za

The Documentary Filmmakers Association will present another DocLOVE event at the Bertha Movie House at Isivivana Centre on Wednesday 4 September at 6pm. Free entrance. 8 Mzala Street, Khayelitsha  Website: https://isivivanacentre.org.za Facebook: Bertha Movie House

 NOTE: The film will also screen at the HILTON ARTS FESTIVAL (13 - 15 September 2019) in KwaZulu-Natal.

Trailer Link Facebook:

https://facebook.com/buddhainafrica/videos/2409166019303775

For more information like and follow the film on Facebook: buddhainafrica      

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Canada and South Africa celebrate 20 years of film and TV co-production at DFM and DIFF 2017

July 6, 2017 – In 1997, Canada and South Africa signed an Audiovisual Co-production Treaty which would pave the way for collaboration between Canadian and South African film and television productions. This was the first ever co-production treaty signed by South Africa and remained the only one until 2003. To celebrate this important milestone, Canada will be a country of focus at the Durban FilmMart (DFM) and at the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF).

“We are immensely proud to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Canada and South African audio visual treaty. The incredible projects that have been produced under the treaty like Molo Fish, the first project produced, will forever be engraved in the memories of many South Africans. The celebrations of the treaty commenced at HotDocs, it is exciting to now host the celebration at SA’s premier film festival DIFF. We look forward to future projects between the two countries.” said Zama Mkosi, CEO of the National Film and Video Foundation

As part of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary, a delegation from Canada will be at DFM and will participate in various sessions of the program. The delegation includes:

-        Valerie Creighton, CEO of Canada Media Fund which provides funding for Canadian co-production projects.

-        Heidi Tao Yang, Fund Manager for the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund which provides funding to African documentary filmmakers.

-        Nicole Brooks and Lisa Wickham from Caribbean Tales who will run CineFAM - Africa, which is a two-day programme with the objective to support the development of original serialised television content created by women from Africa and the African Diaspora.

-        Alfons Adetuyi, Producer from Inner City Films

-        Daniel Iron and Lance Samuels, Producers from Blue Ice Pictures

-        Damon D’Oliveira, Producer from Conquering Lion Pictures

-        Mila Aung-Thwin, Executive Producer of EyeSteeleFilm

-        Richard Boddington, independent producer who’s film Phoenix Wilder will world premiere at DIFF.

As part of the commemoration of the 20 years of the co-production treaty, a selection of four co-produced films will be screened at DIFF. These include A Million Colours, Inescapable, Jonestone: Paradise Lost, and Phoenix Wilder (World Premiere). From 1997 to 2015, a total of 23 official projects have been produced under the treaty including television series such as Jozi-H and Charlie Jade, and feature films such as The Bang Bang Club.

“It is a great pleasure for us to commemorate 20 years of co-production with South Africa at DIFF, and in the presence of a Canadian delegation with significant co-production experience. We look forward to continuing the celebration at the Toronto International Film Festival in September with our South African colleagues’, said Sandra McCardell, High Commissioner of Canada in South Africa.

Canada has signed co-production treaties with 54 countries and South Africa is an important partner being among the top 10 countries for official film and television co-productions with Canada. Canada sees the film industry as an important job creator, and contributor to its economic growth, generating close to C$5 billion (approx. R50 billion) in revenue annually.

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SOUTH AFRICA’S ‘INXEBA’ BAGS A STRING OF AWARDS AHEAD OF THE DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

SOUTH AFRICA’S ‘INXEBA’ BAGS A STRING OF AWARDS AHEAD OF THE DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

South African film ‘Inxeba’ (known internationally as ‘The Wound’) has won the Best Film Award in the International New Talent Competition, at the  current Taipei Film Festival ahead of its African premiere at the Durban International Film Festival at The Playhouse next week (14 July).

This is a latest in a string of awards for the film, which explores tradition and masculinity, and the clash between age-old rituals and modernity. Described by Variety magazine as “a milestone in South African cinema”, the film stars musician and novelist Nakhane Touré as Xolani, a lonely factory worker who joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood. When Kwanda (Niza Jay Ncoyini), a defiant initiate from the city, discovers his mentor’s secret, Xolani's entire existence begins to unravel. 

At Cinema Jove, the Valencia International Film Festival, held in Spain from 23 June to 1 July, ‘Inxeba’ was awarded the Luna de Valencia for Best Feature Film, as well as the Best Actor Award for Nakhane Touré.

At one of the world's longest-running film festivals, the Sydney Film Festival, held from 7 to 18 June, ‘Inxeba’ won the Audience Award for Best Feature, with ScreenDaily describing it as “a measured consideration of class, race, self-loathing and self-assertion”.

At the 41st Frameline, San Francisco’s international film festival, held from 15 to 25 June and where 147 films were screened, ‘Inxeba’ won the First Feature Award. 

Shortly before that, it was awarded the prize for Best Feature Film at the 32nd Lovers Film Festival, an LGBTQI festival held in Turin, Italy from 15 to 20 June.

In April, the film received the Jury Prize for Best Narrative at the 19th annual Sarasota Film Festival in Florida, in the US. The festival is known as a world-class platform for thought-provoking films from some of the best known and emerging independent filmmakers. At the MOOOV International Film held in March 2017, in Belgium, it garnered a Special Mention.

‘Inxeba’, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival and later opened Berlinale Panorama, was a 2014 Durban FilmMart project. This initial pitch enabled the team behind it to obtain funding from a number of international financiers, resulting in a co-production between South Africa, France, Germany and The Netherlands. 

According to a Sundance review, “John Trengove's hard-edged but beautifully wrought study of clashing Xhosa models of masculinity will be an eye-opener to outsiders — and some South Africans too.”

‘Inxeba’ is the first feature from writer-director John Trengove, and is co-written by Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana and Malusi Bengu. The Xhosa initiation ritual which forms the landscape of the film is also the subject of ‘Inxeba’ co-writer Mgqolozana’s novel, ‘A Man Who Is Not a Man’. 

‘Inxeba’ will continue to travel around the world, having been sold to 19 countries for theatrical release thus far, and will be distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution. 

“The release strategy for South Africa ensures that the film will qualify as a strong contender to represent the country in the Foreign Language Film nominations for the 2018 Oscars,” says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution. “We are excited about ‘Inxeba’ as it is an authentic South African story that has gained traction globally.”

Director John Trengove, lead actor Nakhane Toure, some of the cast as well as co-producer Cait Pansegrouw, will be in attendance at the premiere.

‘Inxeba’ will be screened at 6pm on Friday, July 14 at The Playhouse, 8pm on Tuesday, July 18 at Sterkinekor Gateway, 2.30pm on Saturday, July 22 at Sterkinekor Gateway. Bookings for the Playhouse are through www.computicket.com, and for Sterkinekor on www.sterkinekor.com. For more information about the Durban International Film festival go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

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Caption: Poster for Inxeba

For more information:

http://www.urucumedia.com/the-wound

https://www.facebook.com/thewoundthefilm/

Watch the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubSlj-G4P6I&t=3s

The Durban International Film Festival brings Germany to South Africa

The 38th edition of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is set to captivate audiences with a German Focus, which features ten gripping films by some of Germany’s finest directors, a masterclass by German film industry professionals, as well as networking sessions with the cream of the international film industry crop.

 Curated by Alex Moussa Sawadogo, the variety of the films on the lineup is set to keep audiences enthralled. Films such as The People vs Fritz Bauer (which relates to German history after the WWII and the role of the attorney of law Fritz Bauer in confronting the state with its political shortcomings), Paula (which recounts the journey of a well-known early 20th century painter, who discovered her artistic freedom in a more traditional Germany), Goodbye Berlin (a depiction of how the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany merged into one state, taking two young children as the protagonists of a road movie through former East Germany) and Greetings From Fukushima (which breaks the common stereotypes that surround Germans) will leave audiences with a better understanding of German history, culture and people.

 While Goodbye Berlin ties in with this year’s overall festival theme, “Transit Tales”, All of a Sudden, Greetings From Fukushima, Paula and Karl Marx City speak to one of this year’s focus areas – women-led films.

 DIFF audiences will have the chance to meet key people behind the productions. Anand Batbileg and Tristan Göbel, two of the most promising talents in Germany’s film scene and the main actors of Goodbye Berlin will be in Durban for a Q&A following the German Gala screening of Goodbye Berlin at The Playhouse (Drama Theatre) on 16 July (time to be confirmed). The award winning and family friendly film was made by prominent film maker Fatih Akin who recently presented his last film in Cannes. Tickets for the Gala Screening are available at Computicket.

 Another confirmed DIFF guest is Doris Dörrie, director of Greetings From Fukushima. With her unmistakable way of storytelling, she has been one of the towering figures in German cinema since she stirred up the countries’ film scene in 1985 with the gender comedy Men. Christian Schwochow has been awarded for both his cinema and theatre work and will visit DIFF in his capacity as Director of Paula. Petra Epperlein will visit Durban as well to present the extraordinary documentary Karl Marx City, which is a highly personal cinematic journey into her childhood to find the truth about her late father’s suicide and his rumored past in the GDR’s secret service. Furthermore, Directors Karin Steinberger (The Promise) and Stephan Rick (The Dark Side Of The Moon) will be attending DIFF. 

 The German Focus at DIFF 2017 is presented by German Films, the Goethe-Institut and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in South Africa in cooperation with DIFF. 

Alex Moussa Sawadogo, director of the Afrikamera Festival and curator of the German Film Focus at DIFF elaborates: “Long considered as a highly politicized cinema that placed social and political criticism at the heart of its creation, today, German cinema is dominated by a new generation of directors. From diverse origins, free and gifted, these German directors are at the foreground of the vivacity of the production of German cinema, which is recognized all over the world. They bring the concerns of their generation in an intimate sphere on screen and discuss the tribulations of a new Germany that has opened itself to the world - particularly by receiving many people in distress. The German Film Focus at DIFF 2017 presents itself as a unique platform for the discovery of a program of new, diversified, exciting and engaging German films of all kinds – a cinema that places German people from all origins at the heart of its creation.”

Mariëtte Rissenbeek, German Films Service said: “The majority of the films we are presenting have been very successful at a large number of international film festivals. The kinds of stories they tell and the way in which they are told are relevant for a larger international audience, and the director’s handwriting has both a specific and an international element. The strength of German cinema at present is its diversity. Since the year 2000 a number of German films, about German history and personal stories, have been made which achieved international success.”

 Lien Heidenreich-Seleme, Head of Cultural Programmes at the Goethe-Institut, added: “The goals of the Goethe-Institut are to support film within the creative industries and to undo with stereotypes through visual storytelling. We do this with training and networking initiatives, through interdisciplinary and pan-African collaborations, and by increasing access to the variety of German filmmaking. In this light, and after our longstanding relationship with DIFF, we are excited about this year’s German focus.”    

 DIFF, the Goethe-Institut South Africa and Berlinale Talents have a decade-long partnership. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Talents Durban, a programme that began in 2008 as a result of the partnership between DIFF and Berlin International Film Festival’s Berlinale Talents, with the support of the Goethe-Institut and the German Embassy.   

 Talents Durban is an annual five-day training and mentorship programme that runs at DIFF, aimed at empowering emerging 27 African screenwriters and directors working on projects for film, television, web series and content for mobile platforms. The 10th edition will take place from 14-18th of July under the theme “Perspectives: Seeing things differently”, which is derived from the observation that film alone may not change the world but can show the world when it changes. Talents Durban looks to not only highlight the stories of Africa, but create a culture of Africans telling their own stories, and most importantly from their experience and perspective of cutting edge and modern cinematic technology. Talents Durban is happy to welcome the German directors Doris Dörrie, Petra Epperlein and the two main characters of Fatih Akin’s film Goodbye Berlin, Anand Batbileg and Tristan Göbel. As part of Talents Durban and in association with the Goethe-Institut and FIPRESCI (International Association of Film Critics), the Talent Press programme will provide again mentorship and hands-on training in the craft of film criticism to three emerging African journalists. 

Furthermore, the Goethe-Institut will present “New Dimensions – Virtual Reality Africa”, a brand new package of four VR productions from Kenya, Ghana and Senegal. The works were co-produced with Cape Town based Electric South. To be shown at the Durban FilmMart (DFM), they allow a glimpse into the fascinating new opportunities that technology provides for visual storytelling.

DIFF is one of Africa’s leading and longest running festivals, and runs from 13 to 23 July in Durban, South Africa. 

To find out more about the German Focus at DIFF, visit www.durbanfilmfest.co.za, or follow the Festival and the German Film Focus partners on social media: 

Twitter: 

@DIFFest (#DIFF2017) 

@German_Films #germanfilms

@goethejoburg 

@berlin_talents

@GermanEmbassySA

Facebook: 

Durban International Film Festival 

German Films

Goethe-Institut Johannesburg

Talents Durban

German Embassy Pretoria

Instagram:

@durbaninternationalfilmfest

@germanfilms #germanfilms

@goethe_jhb

@berlinaletalents

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Oliver Hermanus' Latest Film Makes SA Debut at DIFF

Media Release

The Endless River 

Oliver Hermanus’ Latest Film Makes SA Debut at DIFF

Award-winning South African director Oliver Hermanus’ new film, The Endless River, will have its first South African screening at the Durban International Film Festival this month.

Having made history by being the first South African film to be invited to participate in competition at the Venice International Film Festival and picking up the Silver Tanit at the 25th Carthage International Film Festival in Tunisia, The Endless River will be screened for the first time in South Africa at the Durban International Film Festival at Ster-Kinekor Musgrave on 19 June at 18:30. It will also be screened at Nu Metro Pavilion on 22 June at 20:30 and at The Playhouse on 25 June at 12:00.

In The Endless River, a young waitress welcomes her husband home to Riviersonderend after his four-year jail sentence. At first it appears their plans for a new life together are finally being realized, but when the family of a foreigner living on a nearby farm is brutally murdered, the young woman and the grieving widower begin gravitating towards each other. Trapped in a cycle of violence and bloodshed, the two form an unlikely bond seeking to transcend their mutual anger, pain and loneliness.

The Endless River stars French actor Nicolas Duvauchelle and a strong South African cast in Crystal-Donna Roberts, (who will be attending the DIFF on June 19 an 20), Darren Kelfkens, Carel Nel and Denise Newman. It was produced by Swift Productions and Moonlighting Films.

Oliver Hermanus is a multi-award winning, South African-born film director, writer and photographer. He has written and directed three feature-length films since his debut in 2009. His first feature, Shirley Adams, premiered in competition at the 62nd Locarno Film Festival and his second, Skoonheid, in the Un Certain Regard competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival. The Endless River is his third film.

Details of the screening schedule can be found at www.durbanfilmfest.co.za.

The Endless River will be released in South African cinema on 1 July by Black Sheep Films. For more about the film, visitfacebook.com/blacksheepfilms1.

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NOTE TO MEDIA: Crystal-Donna Roberts (Tiny) will be attending DIFF and available for interviews on 19 & 20 June.

Caption to supplied photo: The Endless River stars French actor Nicolas Duvauchelle with Crystal-Donna Roberts.

SA Release Date: 1 July

Rating: 16 S V, 110min

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybZQx_d38O4

Images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b0vqwo702r3sqwd/AAAsc7uwFWZkDxgbC-JMxfy2a?dl=0

Production Notes: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5v35qft3wbxcuh2/AACNA6mJ-sWv7zQFdE-7EO5sa?dl=0

Issued on behalf of Black Sheep Films by:

Trevor Crighton

trevor@syntegrate.co.za

083 652 7713

 FOR DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL/ DURBAN FILMMART

Sharlene Versfeld
Versfeld & Associates
Public Relations and Communications
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 326 3235
Tel: +27 (0) 31 811 5628
Post: P O Box 30547, Mayville, 4058
Email: sharlene@versfeld.co.za
Twitter: sharlvers
Website: www.versfeld.co.za

Durban filmmaker returns to Durban International Film Festival with Radio Rats documentary

MEDIA RELEASE 

Durban filmmaker returns to Durban International Film Festival with Radio Rats documentary

“Jiving and Dying - The Radio Rats Story” sees Durban filmmaker Michael Cross return to the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) (16-26 June) with a documentary about a band he argues are so much more than one-hit wonders.

Almost forty years ago, in late-1970s South Africa, there was a song on the radio about a spaceman called ZX Dan.  It was by a noisy little band from Springs, near Johannesburg. That song and hundreds more songwriter Jonathan Handley has penned since then remain an important, if sometimes overlooked, part of South Africa’s musical landscape.

According to director Cross, this film, twenty-five years in the making, introduces the music of the Rats and the words of Jonathan Handley “in an attempt to afford them the place they deserve in the history of independent rock ’n’ roll in South Africa.”
 

The film reveals how Radio Rats were to influence one fellow resident of Springs, James Phillips (aka Bernoldus Niemand) to form a band and to write songs.   It was Phillips who went on to initiate the alternative Afrikaans music scene of the mid-80s, the Voëlvry “movement” and, indirectly perhaps, the Oppikoppi music festival where a stage still bears his name.

“Jiving and Dying” also shows Rats songwriter Jonathan Handley continues to record and archive music relentlessly. His sharply-observed characters form the basis for most of his songs and he's funny, he's witty and he's dedicated. He's disarmingly self-deprecating too. The filmmaker maintains Handley remains one of the unsung heroes of South African music.

Durban-based, Cross has attended DIFF since he was a teenager in the late-1970’s and has always been struck by the selection of music-documentaries featured over the years.  “Jiving and Dying” is his third music-documentary selected for the Durban International Film Festival.  “Bafo Bafo - What Kind?!” profiling the collaboration between guitarists Syd Kitchen and Madala Kunene, tpremiered in 2005 and “Rockstardom - The Journey of a Small-Town Songwriter" screened in 2012 following it’s premiere at the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival.  He has produced more than 50 music videos with artists including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Busi Mhlongo.

This 37th edition of DIFF features several music-related films with “Jiving and Dying” joined by: “Songs of Lahore”, “Breaking a Monster”, “I Shot Bi Kidude” and “Shwabade”.  “Jiving and Dying” will premiere on Friday, 24 June 2016 at 8 pm at Ster-Kinekor Musgrave 5 and an additional screening will take place on Sunday, 26 June at 11:00, also at Ster-Kinekor Musgrave.

For more information about “Jiving and Dying” e-mail rogueproductions@mweb.co.za and for more information about DIFF go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za.

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Sarafina! Commemorates 40 years of 16 June 1976

Media Release

SARAFINA! COMMEMORATES 40 YEARS OF 16 JUNE 1976

Producer of Sarafina!, Anant Singh announced today the commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the ‘Soweto Uprising’ of 16 June 1976, with initiatives focussing on the film which is based on this watershed event in South Africa’s history. Directed by Darrell James Roodt, Sarafina! stars Leleti Khumalo, Mbongeni Ngema, John Kani, Robert Whitehead, Miriam Makeba and Oscar winner, Whoopi Goldberg.

The film follows Sarafina (Leleti Khumalo), who, like other young students of the time, adopted a campaign of resistance against the police presence in their schools.  She imagines the support of her role-model, Nelson Mandela, who is her inspiration, and she finds an ally in her teacher, Mary Masombuka (Whoopi Goldberg) who backs the students in their rebellion against the police presence.

Leading the initiatives is a unique collaboration between Videovision Entertainment, United International Pictures, Ster Kinekor, Nu Metro, Times Media and e.tv to have free screenings of Sarafina! at selected cinemas across South Africa at 12 noon on 16 June 2016.  The participating cinemas are: Baywest, Bedford Centre, Blue Route, Bridge, Brooklyn, Canal Walk, Carlton Centre, Clearwater, East Rand Mall, Eastgate, Eikestad, Galleria, Gateway, The Glen, Key West, Kollanade, Loch Logan Development, Maponya Mall, Menlyn Park, Mimosa, Mooi River, Newtown Junction, Northcape (Kimberley), Parow, The Pavilion, Sandton, Southgate, Sterland, TygerValley, Vaal Mall, Nu Metro V&A and Walmer Park.

In addition to the screenings at cinemas, e.tv will broadcast Sarafina! at 20h30 on 16 June 2016 on its free-to-air service which will have a simultaneous transmission on Channel 194 on the DStv platform.

In KwaZulu Natal, Videovision Entertainment has teamed up with the KZN Film Commission for community screenings from 20 to 26 June in Umlazi, Clermont, Chesterville, KwaMashu and The Bat Centre.  Gauteng will see a partnership with The Joburg Theatre where Sarafina! will be screened as part of the theatre’s Youth Month programme at the Soweto Theatre from 10 to 19 June and at the Joburg Theatre between 20 and 25 June; while in the Western Cape, the film will be screened for school children from the Athlone and Mitchells Plain areas on 22 June.

Commenting on the initiatives, Singh said, “Sarafina! has been an inspiration to me, firstly in getting the film made, and then being inspired by how it was embraced by the people of South Africa and the rest of the world.  The stage musical created by Mbongeni Ngema which also starred Leleti Khumalo was revolutionary and fresh.  Our film continued in that tradition, to celebrate and pay tribute to the youth of 1976 who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.  In commemorating the 40th anniversary of 16 June 1976, we are proud to have created a platform that allows Sarafina! to salute those young people who contributed to our freedom and share their story with the youth of today, contributing to social cohesion and an appreciation of their peers.  I also congratulate, on the occasion of this 40thanniversary, the members of the stage musical and the team that made the film for their contribution to recording this historic event for posterity.”

End

For further information:

Nilesh Singh

Tel: 031 204 6050 

E-mail: nilesh@videovison.co.za

Talents Durban 2016 Participants Announced

Media Release

TALENTS DURBAN 2016 PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED

The 37th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is proud to announce the participants of the 9th edition of Talents Durban, presented in cooperation with the Berlinale Talents, an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival. Talents Durban is a five-day development programme consisting of workshops and seminars for African filmmakers delivered by film professionals and academics. The Talents, who are selected through a rigorous application process, will also have the opportunity to attend screenings and other events at the Festival.

Talents Durban is one of the six Talents International programmes formed by Berlinale Talents. The other Talents programmes include Talents Beirut in Lebanon, Talents Buenos Aires in Argentina, Talents Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Talents Tokyo in Japan and Talents Guadalajara in Mexico.

20 filmmakers from eight countries across the continent, including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Egypt and Madagascar, will be in attendance.

The selected participants for Durban Talents 2016 are:

Adefoyeke Ajao (Nigeria), Amirah Tadjin (Kenya), Desmond Denton (South Africa), Flavia Motsisi (South Africa), Hiwot Getaneh (Ethiopia), Izette Mostert (South Africa), Kennedy Omoro (Kenya), Maragert Wacera (South Africa), Nathan Rice (South Africa), Peter Seduffia (Ghana), Razanajaona Luck (Madagascar), Sakhumzi Mati (South Africa), Sameh Morsy (Egypt), Sheetal Magan (South Africa), Tamara Dawit (Ethiopia), Thea Small (South Africa), Tumelo Moutlana (South Africa), Wim Steytler (South Africa), Wome Uyeye (Nigeria), and Yara Pereira (Mozambique).

Presented under the theme Degrees of Separation: Connecting People and Story, Talents Durban aims to boost the already rising flow of contemporary filmmaking in Africa, and to encourage filmmakers on the continent to share their stories through the lens of their own own particular culture. Participants will interact with over 600 delegates from DIFF and Durban FilmMart, the co-production and finance forum which takes place from 17-20 June during the festival. The talents will also get to be part of several project-oriented, hands-on skills development programmes. Practical development programmes within Talents Durban include Story Junction, masterclasses, and one-on-one mentorships.

Story Junction is a platform showcasing projects linked to the festival. Participants will present their project at Story Junction to peers and industry delegates. Delegates will be able to request meetings with projects that they wish to engage with further.

Like last year, Talents Durban participants will have access to all industry master classes, panel discussions and festival functions. In addition, the Talents will be invited to all festival functions as well as events of the Durban FilmMart.

Each of the Talents Durban participants will receive a mentor for an intensive programme of one-on-one consultation and project and strategy development workshops for the entire group. The mentors selected are experts in their respective fields (e.g. documentary, fiction, drama series, web, mobile content, TV) that suit the needs of the participant and their projects.

Talents Durban is supported by the Goethe Institut SA, the German Embassy in South Africa and the Gauteng Film Commission.

For more information about Talents Durban at the DIFF go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za.

The Durban International Film Festival takes place from 16-26 June 2016. The Festival includes nearly 200 theatrical screenings, as well as the Wavescape Film Festival and various industry initiatives, including the 9th Talents Durban programme (in cooperation with the Berlin Talent Campus) and the 7th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office). 

The 37th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, Durban Film Office,  eThekwini Municipality, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture, and a range of other valued partners.

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Durban International Film Festival Partners with Festival Scope Pro-Online Platform for Film Professionals

MEDIA RELEASE

Durban International Film Festival Partners with Festival Scope Pro – Online Platform for Film Professionals

Festival Scope Pro (pro.festivalscope.com), the online platform dedicated to film professionals (festivals and film producers), will present a selection of films from the 37th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) starting in June 2016.

The DIFF, which runs from June 16 to 26 is the continent's leading showcase of African film, attracting both film-lovers and industry representatives from across Africa and beyond. The partnership brings a selection of South African and African feature films online, available exclusively to film professionals.

The online collection will include a selection from the 50 African films which includes 24 South African films programmed at this year's festival among the 101 films presented overall.

The festival is dedicated to presenting key African titles such as Leyla Bouzid's As I Open My Eyes and Jean-Pierre Bekolo's Naked Reality.

The partnership between DIFF and Festival Scope Pro aims to bring a greater visibility – and potentially a wider distribution – to the African film industry. Each film will be made available after its initial screening, bringing them from Durban, South Africa, straight to film professionals’ screens.

Festival Scope Pro offers festivals on demand to film professionals worldwide.

For more information about Festival Scope Pro go to www.pro.festivalscope.com. For more information about DIFF go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za.

-ends

Sharlene Versfeld
Versfeld & Associates
Public Relations and Communications
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 326 3235
Tel: +27 (0) 31 811 5628
Post: P O Box 30547, Mayville, 4058
Email: sharlene@versfeld.co.za
Twitter: sharlvers
Website: www.versfeld.co.za

World Premiere of Nobody's Died Laughing at Durban International Film Festival

Media Release

World Premiere of Nobody’s Died Laughing  - A Journey with Pieter-Dirk Uys

Durban International Film Festival

kykNET films and Vry Films in association with Lion’s Head Productions and Who Projects are proud to announce Nobody’s Died Laughing, a theatrical-action-documentary that celebrates the life and work of performing artist and activist Pieter-Dirk Uys, will have its world premiere at the 37th Durban International Film Festival on Sunday, June 19 at 6pm at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.

In Nobody’s Died Laughing a film crew tries to keep up with one of the hardest working artists in South Africa on a journey from Cape Town, Johannesburg, Grahamstown, Stellenbosch to London, Berlin and his home in Darling. The film takes a closer look at the man behind all the famous characters, the humanitarian and his educational AIDS awareness work, for which he has received international acclaim.  

“This film captures a man and a lifetime commitment to a country by using satire to affect change,” explains filmmaker Willem Oelofse. “I started researching Pieter-Dirk Uys in 2014 and spent time with him in his personal archives in Darling. I found it fascinating that after 50 years in the entertainment industry he was still working at the same pace and with the same vigour as when he started.  In 2015 we simply picked up a camera and started following him around wherever he went: performing in Berlin or the Cape Flats, and watching him teach a room full of teenagers about safe sex.  I believe audiences will be intrigued to experience more about the man who refuses to be silenced while using the arts as his weapon against discrimination and confronting intolerance.”

The film also includes never before seen archive footage, performances and interviews with Desmond Tutu, Charlize Theron, Lizz Meiring, Anna-Mart van der Merwe, FW De Klerk, Janet Suzman, Thoko Ntshinga, David Kramer, Zolani Mahola, Vincent Ebrahim, Professor David Gere, Eric Abraham, Sophia Loren, Jonathan Shapiro and many more, with footage of Tessa Uys and Nelson Mandela.

 The film will have further screenings on Friday, June 24 at 6pm at Ster Kinekor Musgrave and on Sunday, June 26 at 9.30pm at the Playhouse.The film opens in cinemas around the country on July 29.

For more information regarding the festival visit: http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/

Follow the conversation on

Twitter: https://twitter.com/whoEntProjects

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NobodysDiedLaughing/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zbG9jzckkM&feature=youtu.be

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Notes:

Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/6zbG9jzckkM

Nobody’s Died Laughing

A Journey with Pieter-Dirk Uys

Written and directed by Willem Oelofsen

Editor: Geoffrey Butler

Music composed by Josh Wynter

Featured song written and performed by Jack Parow “Rebel till he’s dead” http://apple.co/1U436M5

Publicist for Nobody’s Died Laughing

For more information and media enquiries about THIS film please contact Suzaan Keyter via emailsuzaan.keyter@gmail.com or 0799 100 385

Publicist for Durban International Film Festival:

Sharlene Versfeld

sharlene@versfeld.co.za

083 326 3235

Pieter-Dirk Uys photo by Robert A Hamblin

The Journeymen announced as opening night film for 37th Durban International Film Festival

Media Release

The Journeymen announced as opening night film for

37th Durban International Film Festival

The Durban International Film Festival is pleased to announce that the opening night film of the 37th edition will be the World Premiere of the South African documentary, The Journeymen, the latest instalment in the Twenty Journey project. The documentary has been directed by Sean Metelerkamp and produced by filmmaker Jolynn Minnaar whose film, Unearthed, was one of the big hits at DIFF 2014.

Filmed as part of the Twenty Journey project in 2014, the year in which South Africa celebrated 20 years of democracy and mourned Nelson Mandela’s death, The Journeymen chronicles the journey of three young South African photographers, Wikus de Wet, Sipho Mpongo and Sean Metelerkamp, as they travel 24 000km in a motorhome throughout South Africa, with GoPro cameras strapped to their chests, to explore the mood and feel the pulse of contemporary South Africa. From urban sprawls to dusty rural roads, the trio were driven by the question “Has Mandela’s vision of equality in a rainbow nation been achieved?”

The film answers this with a kaleidoscopic set of responses that are disturbing, beautiful, thought-provoking and, more than anything, movingly surreal.

Said Acting Festival Director, Peter Machen, "It is highly appropriate that this intersectional portrait of our strange and beautiful country will screen on the fortieth anniversary of 16th June, 1976. The film is a portrait of a nation that was forever changed by the actions of the youth of Soweto, and screening it on this day will act as a tribute to the bravery of the tens of thousands of unnamed young people who helped build the road to our liberation."

Machen continued, "The film shows the underlying demons of our troubled national soul but also its deep and profound beauty. Made with technology that is widely accessible, the film is also a vibrant call to arms for new modes of filmmaking and fresh approaches to narrative. We are very happy to be screening the world premiere of The Journeymen on the opening night of the 37th Edition of DIFF.”

Director, Sean Metelerkamp said, “While we never set out to make a feature length documentary, looking back, through embracing new technology, we were able to capture our promising, contentious and confusing country as we went about exploring our respective photographic themes. We hope that this collaboration - between three guys from different cultural and racial backgrounds, united simply by a duty to set out and discover truly authentic South African stories - kickstarts conversations and interactions. As luck would have it, our film features a chance encounter with Sam Nzima, who photographed Hector Pietersen. We can’t think of a better way to honour Youth Day than to share our film with the country. “

The Twenty Project was made possible by many generous Kickstarter backers. The documentary is executive-produced by Dylan Voogt and made possible with the support of Stage 5 Films, Priest Post Production, 744 Digital and Mothership Studio.

The Durban International Film Festival takes place from 16-26 June 2016. The Festival includes nearly 200 theatrical screenings, as well as the Wavescape Film Festival and various industry initiatives, including the 9th Talents Durban programme (in cooperation with the Berlin Talent Campus) and the 7th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office).

For more information go to www.durbanfilmfestival.co.za. #DIFF2016  @DIFFest

The 37th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, Durban Film Office, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, eThekwini Municipality, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and a range of other valued partners.

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PHOTOS SUPPLIED: Please note that these pics are high res. If for any reason they do not come out as high res - please let us know and we can re-send.

Issued on behalf of the DIFF by:

Sharlene Versfeld/ Sipho Ngwenya/ Ayanda Mabanga

Versfeld & Associates

0833263235/ 031 8115628

sharlene@versfeld.co.za

www.versfeld.co.za

Durban International Film Festival Announces Programme for 37th Edition

MEDIA RELEASE

DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES PROGRAMME FOR 37TH EDITION

The 37th Durban International Film Festival has announced its programme, offering another exciting edition of the continent’s leading showcase of independent African and international film. It will take place at 15 venues across the city and its outlying areas from 16-26 June.

In an exciting new move, the festival has added a number of new venues to further increase the footprint of the festival into areas that don’t usually have access to formal cinemas. The festival has also increased its presence on the commercial circuit, with Nu Metro Pavilion being added to its roster of venues.

The festival will kick off on the 40th anniversary of June 16, 1976 with the World Premiere of the South African documentary, The Journeymen, directed by Sean Metelerkamp and produced by Jolynn Minnaar, whose film, Unearthed, was one of the big hits at DIFF 2014.

Filmed in 2014, the year in which South Africa celebrated 20 years of democracy and mourned Nelson Mandela’s death, The Journeymen chronicles the experiences of three young South African photographers as they travel 24 000km in a motorhome through South Africa, with GoPro cameras strapped to their chests. From urban sprawls to dusty rural roads, the trio were driven by the question “Has Mandela’s vision of equality in a rainbow nation been achieved?” The film answers this with a kaleidoscopic set of responses that are disturbing, beautiful, thought-provoking and, more than anything, movingly surreal.

With just under half of all the films originating from Africa and South Africa, this year’s festival once again celebrates and honours the rich, ever-evolving language of African cinema. Of the 101 feature-length films to be shown at the festival, 50 are African films, including 17 fiction films and 9 documentaries, while there are 24 South African films, including 10 fiction films and 14 documentaries. Additionally, the festival’s programme will include more than 90 short films, the majority of which are African and South African. 

Key titles from the continent’s ever-expanding film industry reflect the growing call for real freedom and authentic engagement with power and political narratives. The Revolution Won't Be Televised, from Rama Thiaw, is a smart and insightful documentary that sheds light on political resistance in Senegal, Naked Reality, the latest film from provocative filmmaker Jean-Pierre Bekolo challenges the status quo and critical questions those in power, while Nakom is a haunting film about the conflict between tradition, modernity and love, Ghostland chronicles the loss of language and identity of indigenous Nambian people, and Nawara, from Egypt’s Hala Khalil, is a biting social commentary on Egypt’s classist society. Then there is I Shot Bi Kidude, the long awaited feature film about African musical legend Bi Kidude, by British filmmaker Andy Jones, and Independence from Mário Bastos chronicles the Angolan liberation struggle.

South African features films include Shepherds and Butchers from master filmmaker Oliver Schmitz.  - based on the book written by Durban advocate, Chris Marnewick and produced by Videovision Entertainment. The film which won the audience award at Berlin will have a special gala screening onFriday, June 17.  "We are very proud of our film, Shepherds and Butchers which won the Berlin Panorama Audience Award. Whilst there has been controversy and disappointment around the selection process at DIFF, we are pleased to share our film with this audience.” says Anant Singh Producer of the film.

Other SA Films include Endless River, the latest film from South African auteur Oliver Hermanus, Kalushi which chronicles the story of Solomon Mahlangu, the mockumentary Wonderboy for President starring Kagiso Lediga and directed by John Barker, and Tess from previous DIFF winner Meg Rickards, which follows the story of a sassy twenty year-old prostitute on the streets of Cape Town.

South African documentaries include Alison, a deeply personal account of a woman who endures unimaginable suffering but refuses to become a victim, Action Commandant which tellsthe untold story of slain South African liberation fighter, Ashley Kriel,  Lost Tongue which introduces us to Helena Steenkamp, a San woman from the Kalahari who embarks on a mission to revive the endangered language of her people, and Nobody Died Laughing a documentary about Pieter-Dirk Uys, one of South Africa’s most prolific writers, satirists and activists.

As well as the strong African Focus, other key areas include a focus on issues around indigenous rights and colonialism, a small programme of films that deal with HIV (given the fact that the World Aids Conference will be taking place in Durban two weeks after the festival ends), and a rich programme of films about dance and music.

This year’s edition also includes a country focus on Dutch cinema offering a cross-section of contemporary cinema curated by Gertan Zuilhof of the Rotterdam Film Festival, in recognition of the Dutch-South African Co-production Treaty. DIFF 2016 also includes a retrospective look at Portuguese-language African film in partnership with Tri Continental Film Festival.

As has been the case for 37 years the festival will also present an eclectic selection of film from around the world.

DIFF partners for the 11th year with Wavescape to present a feast of surfing cinema from around the world. Wavescape opens with a free outdoor screening at the Bay of Plenty Lawns on Sunday 19 June, before locating to the new venue at Rivertown Beerhall from June 20 to 26.

The 9th Talents Durban in co-operation with Berlinale Talents, brings together the creativity of 20 selected filmmakers from Africa, who will take part in a series of masterclasses, workshops and industry networking opportunities during the Festival. Supported by German Embassy and Goethe-Institut, Talents Durban creates a space for filmmakers to hone their skills, develop collaborations and network with other future leaders of the film industry in Africa, and the world.

Now in its 7th year, the Durban FilmMart, a partnership project with the Durban Film Office, and supported by the City of Durban, is a film finance and co-production market presented in three strands – Finance Forum, Master Classes and the Africa in Focus seminars. Nineteen selected African projects (9 fiction features and 10 documentaries) will hold one-on-one meetings with potential financiers, co-producers, and distributors in the Finance Forum. The DFM master class and networking programme is open to registered delegates only. See www.durbanfilmmart.co.za for further details.

New venues this year include the Playhouse, Nu Metro (Westville Pavilion), Rivertown Beerhall and numerous outreach venues in Umlazi, Clermont and Inanda. Other venues include Ster Kinekor Musgrave, Ster Kinekor Cinema Nouveau, the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, the KZNSA Gallery, eKhaya MultiArts Centre, Luthuli Museum in Groutville and the Elangeni-Maharani Hotel, with festival hubs at the Elangeni-Maharani and the Playhouse.

Programme booklets with the full screening schedule and synopses of all the films will be available free at cinemas, and other public information outlets.  For more info go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za. The full programme will be available online from June 1.

The 37th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, Durban Film Office, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, eThekwini Municipality, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and a range of other valued partners.

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PHOTOS: Supplied by DIFF. Please note that is for any reason these pics are not high res enough (or they have been embedded for some reason)- please let us know and we can resend.

We have photos of most of the films - which we can give you access to via Dropbox. Just let us know and we can send you the link. 

Many thanks

Sharlene/ Sipho/ Ayanda

Sharlene Versfeld
Versfeld & Associates
Public Relations and Communications
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 326 3235
Tel: +27 (0) 31 811 5628
Post: P O Box 30547, Mayville, 4058
Email: sharlene@versfeld.co.za
Twitter: sharlvers
Website: www.versfeld.co.za

7th Durban FilmMart Full Programme Announced

Media Release

7th Durban FilmMart Full Programme Announced

Durban, South Africa: The 7th Durban FilmMart (DFM), Africa’s premier film finance and co-production forum has announced its full programme for this year’s edition, which takes place at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni Hotel from June 17 to 20 during the Durban International Film Festival.

An insightful industry programme has been scheduled for this year’s DFM, which has as its objective to stimulate the development of project collaboration between African filmmakers in order to kindle the creation of film on the continent and increase the visibility of African cinema on a global platform.

This year’s DFM industry development programme has a strong focus on story development, the essential starting point for any film, and so a number of sessions will delve into topics that will address the subject of “What is an African story and how to sell these African stories”. South African film-makers Junaid Ahmed and Akin Omotoso will share their experiences of developing their latest films – Happiness is a Four Letter Word and Tell Me Sweet Something respectively. United Kingdom-based Selina Ukwuoma, a script consultant who has worked extensively with the likes of Curtis Brown and projects ranging from 2008’s BAFTA winning Boy A to the more recent Teddy and FIPRESCI Prize-winning Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho will presenting a masterclass on storytelling. South African author and entrepreneur, GG Alcock, will present an unusual Masterclass under the banner of "Authenticity is Key – Building Credibility with Audiences”, where he will talk about the vital necessity of engaging with an audience on their own terms through an authentic understanding of local narratives. Then the Business Model Canvas Programme based on Alex Osterwalder’s book Business Model Generation will demystify the business model design for film which to help businesses to get their first principles right – starting with who their customer might be.

Another key highlight of this year’s industry programme “Packaging for the US Market” with Hollywood producer director Jeff Byrd, a protégé of Spike Lee (Byrd worked on Mo’Better Blues, Jungle Fever and Malcolm X with Lee). Byrd is joined by well-known SA Producer Themba Sibeko Managing Director of Ziya Pictures who has over 25 years of experience in film, television and video and has worked with the likes of Bill Duke (A Rage in Harlem, Deep Cover, Sister Act 2), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, The Color Purple), Ruby Dee (American Gangster, Do The Right Thing), and Isaac Hayes (Shaft) to name a few. 

Hot topic at the moment for film-makers is the subject of Virtual Reality and how this will play out in the film space. Leading a workshop on this topic is Ingrid Kopp who is Director of Digital Initiatives at the Tribeca Film Institute in New York City where she overseas the TFI New Media Fund and leads the Institute’s digital and interactive programs including TFI Interactive and the national Tribeca Hacks hackathon programme. 

Todd Brown, founder of the international film website TwitchFilm.com, and director of international programming at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, USA, will present a masterclass on “Using Short Films to Build Brand and Audience”.

Other workshops and masterclasses include “Video on Demand - How Filmmakers can access this New Distribution Stream”, “Where Social Media and Marketing Meet”, “New Strategies for Financing Independent Film”, “Presales Agreements: Creating value for your investors”, “Talking Through Completion Bonds with Film Finances SA”, “Building Relationships, Building Stories: What to expect and what you get in the editor/director collaboration” with SA Guild of Editors and "How to Pitch and Not Fall Flat on Your Face" with Restless Talent. Round table discussions will include “Finding the Right Partner for Film” with industry professionals and “Window to the World” with international festivals and markets to enable delegates to grow and establish their networks across the continent and further afield.

The National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, will present a number of sessions including “Financing Film through Distribution” and “Marketing and Co-Production with Netherlands”.

“We are really pleased with the programme for this year’s DFM,” says Toni Monty, Head of the Durban Film Office which partners with the DIFF to present the DFM. “The topics and speakers are all on point in terms of what is happening in the industry on a global level and we look forward to hosting delegates for an exciting four day programme, networking, negotiating and film loving!”

Partners and supporters of this year’s DFM include AfriDocs, Berlin Talents Campus, Business Model Canvas, Callsheet, CineMart, Documentary Filmmakers Association, DTI, Durban Tourism, Dutch Film Fund, Film Finances SA, Film and Publications Board, French Embassy, German Embassy, Goethe-Institut, Hot docs Blue Ice Fund, Institut Francais, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, KUMISA, KZN Film Commission, Mnet, National Film and Video Foundation, Opdocs, OIF, Produire au Sud, Restless Talent Management, SABC, SAGE, Screen Africa, Sonoton, Sørfond, Sundance Institute, Talents Durban, Tsogo Sun, Tribeca Institute, Versfeld & Associates, Variety and VideoVision Entertainment. 

For registration or for more information view the delegate registration process online at the official website - www.durbanfilmmart.co.za.  Early Bird registration closes on 30 May 2016. 

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Photos attached: Credit: Supplied by DFM

GG Alcock to present Masterclass at DFM 2016

 PRESS RELEASE

GG ALCOCK TO PRESENT MASTERCLASS AT DFM 2016

South African author and entrepreneur, GG Alcock, will present an unusual Masterclass at this year’s edition of Durban FilmMart, which takes place from June 17 to 20 during the Durban International Film Festival. Under the banner of "Authenticity is Key – Building Credibility with Audiences”, Alcock will talk about the vital necessity of engaging with an audience on their own terms through an authentic understanding of local narratives.

The author of Third World Child and Kasinomics (which explores the economics of South Africa’s townships, or ‘lokasies’), Alcock is uniquely placed to talk about accessing local audiences. Having grown up in Zulu culture, he is keenly aware how easy it is for external narratives to be imposed unsuccessfully on indigenous cultures. Alcock has been a shebeen owner, a political activist, a community worker, and an African adventurer, and runs a successful communications company - Minanawe Marketing. Born in Zululand and raised in the heart of rural Msinga area of Kwazulu-Natal in the local Zulu community Alcock is fluent in isiZulu and still has a deep physical and spiritual connection with his home village where his mother still lives.

As the founder of Minanawe Marketing, he has built an impressive reputation as a creative and strategist – his upbringing having given him the ability to unearth unique insights and apply these to marketing solutions in the African context. Given how important it is to establish an authentic narrative and convincing context when delivering a message, Alcock says that “these lessons can have just as much relevance for filmmakers looking to engage local audiences as for those wishing to sell products.”

“I think it’s important to note up front that I am not a filmmaker. What I am able to share, however, is an understanding of audiences, particularly in the mass market, townships and rural areas.” His business specialises in developing themes, concepts and marketing campaigns that have a strong connection with the cultures and identities of these audiences. At the DFM he will be discussing some simple – but often ignored – rules, which he applies when communicating with audiences, and illustrating them with case studies.  While these case studies are located in marketing rather than in filmmaking, the value of his research extends to anyone who is trying to tell African stories. “I think the fact that marketers are often able to access audiences successfully indicates the importance of these lessons,” says Alcock.

Alcock plans to use some of the cultural and business case studies from Kasinomics to explore concepts that are seldom discussed outside of predominately verbal cultures. Core lessons and themes that filmmakers will be able to take away include an understanding of the role of culture and how audiences tend to “modernise rather than westernise”, the ways in which visual and verbal language can be misinterpreted, and the importance of the spiritual and intangible in touching the emotions of an audience. Alcock will also explore the power and significance of social networks and viral communication in a non-online world.

Ahead of DFM, Alcock together with Feyi Olubodun, COO of Insight Nigeria have been invited to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to present a session entitled “The African Consumer, Let My Enemy Live Long” on June 18.

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This unique addition to DFM’s packed roster, which will be presented on June 20, is sure to be both entertaining and eye-opening, and will no doubt inspire new ways of thinking about local audiences.

To register for DFM and to find out more about the delegate registration process, visit the official website at www.durbanfilmmart.com.  An Early Bird registration discount for the 4-day event is available to delegates who book before 30 May at a cost of R1 485, which includes access to allocated sessions, a daily luncheon, DFM networking events, entrance into festival screenings (subject to ticket availability), listing in the DFM Industry Manual, and access to Masterclasses and the Africa in Focus programme. After 30 May 2016, the cost is R2035. Daily passes to the event cost R605. (This does not include tickets to the DIFF screenings or access into the opening and closing events.)

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Note to Editors:

The Durban FilmMart (DFM) is a co-production and finance market and is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). DFM provides filmmakers from across Africa with a valuable opportunity to pitch projects to financiers, distributors, sales agents and potential co-producers, and to participate in meetings, project presentations and a series of master classes and workshops on the latest industry trends. www.durbanfilmmart.co.za

The Durban Film Office (DFO) is the film industry development arm of the eThekwini Municipality, mandated to position Durban as a world-class film production destination and facilitator for the development of the local film industry. The DFO drives activity and development in the sector in order to boost tourism, job creation and the development of core skills and SMMEs in the region. www.durbanfilmoffice.co.za.

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) presents over 200 screenings from different countries and cultures with a special focus on Africa. The festival includes development programmes such as Talents Durban and a rich schedule of workshops. DIFF is a flagship project of the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, which facilitates creative platforms and economic opportunities for artists and related industries, intercultural exchange and network development, training, audience development and strategic Pan-African and international cooperation in the cultural sectors. www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

Blue-chip cinema on the red carpet at 2016 European Film Festival

Media Release

Blue-chip cinema on the red carpet at 2016 European Film Festival

The Oscar-winning documentary Amy, an intimate portrait of late British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, is among the gems on offer at the European Film Festival, which heads to Cinema Nouveau screens in four cities from 6 to 15 May 2016.

Ster-Kinekor will be screening 11 feature length films from across the continent at Cinema Nouveau theatres in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban during the festival. These multi-awarded films, which have been the toast of the international film festival circuit, have never been screened before in South Africa.

This, the third local edition of the European Film Festival, sees the introduction of documentary films, with three non-fiction offerings on the programme.

Festival Director Katarina Hedrén says: “We wish to contribute to the ongoing story of Europe. This story is one of a diverse continent in an interconnected world, which seems to be spinning faster and not always in the right direction.”

Topping the list of films at the 2016 European Film Festival is Amy (UK), directed by Asif Kapadia, which won the 2016 Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Documentary Feature. The documentary tracks the life of the gifted but self-destructive jazz-soul singer until her tragic death from alcohol poisoning in 2011, aged just 27.

Other decorated offerings on the European Film Festival menu are the dramas Macondo (Austria), Body (Poland), Montanha (Portugal), Flowers (Spain), Something Must Break (Sweden) and Labyrinth of Lies (Germany).

Also gracing the silver screen during the festival are the musical comedy Belgian Rhapsody (Belgium), biopic Chocolat (France) and documentaries Fire at Sea (Italy) and A Family Affair (the Netherlands).

The European Film Festival is coordinated by the Goethe-Institut South Africa, hosted by Ster-Kinekor Cinema Nouveau, and organised in partnership with the European Union and 11 other European cultural agencies or embassies in South Africa: the General Representation of the Government of Flanders, the French Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Camões Institute, the British Council, and the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

Says Norbert Spitz, Director of the Goethe-Institut, on behalf of the European partners:  “Katarina Hedrén has put together a selection of feature films and documentaries that allows us to discover unconventional, surprising and moving portraits of life in the multifaceted place that Europe is.”

Adds Lola Gallant, Brand Manager of Cinema Nouveau: “As the festival exhibitor, we are delighted to be partnering with the Goethe-Institut and its partners to host the third annual European Film Festival. As Cinema Nouveau, we pride ourselves on providing a platform to screen a wide variety of foreign-language films. We believe the eleven films, lined up for this year’s festival, which would otherwise not be accessible to local cinema audiences, are must-see content for any film lover.“

The European Film Festival screenings will take place at Cinema Nouveau Rosebank, Brooklyn, Gateway and V&A Waterfront. Bookings open on 15 April 2016, with tickets priced at R55. Secure your seat by visiting www.cinemanouveau.co.za or www.sterkinekor.mobi, or call0861 668 437. For more information, visit www.eurofilmfest.co.za or join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook: #EuroFilmFestSA.

Festival Trailer: https://youtu.be/zraEw3_KByM

Bookings:
 
www.eurofilmfest.co.za   
www.cinemanouveau.co.za 
sterkinekor.mobi
0861 668 437

Standard ticket price: R55
Normal benefits and ticket discounts apply to members of SK Club, Discovery Vitality and Edgars Club.
 

Venues:

Cinema Nouveau - Rosebank Mall, Johannesburg
Rosebank Mall (Level 1), cnr Bath & Baker Streets, Rosebank

Cinema Nouveau - Brooklyn, Pretoria
Brooklyn Mall (Lower Level Shop 12), Bronkhorst Street, New Muckleneuk

Cinema Nouveau - V&A, Cape Town
King Warehouse, Red Shed, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront

Cinema Nouveau - Gateway, Durban
Gateway Theatre of Shopping (Expo/Explore Floor), 1 Palm Blvd, Umhlanga Rocks

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ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE GOETHE-INSTITUT SOUTH AFRICA

MEDIA QUERIES:

National Publicity:  Bridget van Oerle / BUZ PUBLICITY: 

buz@buz.co.za / 083 263 6991 / 011 673 0264 / 011 477 0923

Durban Publicity: 

Sharlene Versfeld : Versfeld & Associates

sharlene@versfeld.co.za 083 3263235/ 031 8115628

Note to editors:

Media Preview Screenings:

Johannesburg
Venue: Rosebank Nouveau, Cinema 6

12 April / 14.00       
Welcome by the Festival Director
Preview of AMY
(additional screenings same day 18.00 and 20.00)

19 April / 14.00 & 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of LABYRINTH OF LIES

Cape Town
Venue: V&A Nouveau, Cinema 3         

12 April / 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of LABYRINTH OF LIES

19 April / 14.00 & 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of AMY

Durban
Venue: Gateway Nouveau, Cinema 3

12 April / 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of AMY

19 April / 14.00 & 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of LABYRINTH OF LIES

PLEASE RSVP TO Bridget van Oerle / BUZ PUBLICITY: 
buz@buz.co.za / 083 263 6991 / 011 673 0264 / 011 477 0923

FILM SELECTION - SYNPOSES

MACONDO (Austria)

Director: Sudabeh Mortezai
Cast: Ramasan Minkailov, Aslan Elbiev, Kheda Gazieva
Genre: Drama
98min ½ German & Chechen with English Subtitles (2014)

Following the death of his father, 11-year old Ramasan and his family live in the Macondo refugee settlement outside Vienna. As the oldest child and the only male, he is the head of the household – a role which comes with more responsibility and autonomy than Ramasan is equipped to handle. The arrival of his father’s best friend, Isa, allows Ramasan to be a child again, but it also means losing some of the freedom he has gotten used to.

Macondo was part of the official competition of Berlin International Film Festival 2014 and won Sudabeh Morezai the award for best emerging filmmaker at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCs3qOL5eqE

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BELGIAN RHAPSODY (Belgium)

Director: Vincent Bal
Cast: Amaryllis Uitterlinden, Arthur Dupont, Jos Verbist, Tom Audenaert
Genre: Musical comedy
95min ½  Flemish & French with English Subtitles (2014)

’50% Flemish, 50% Walloon, 100% Belgian’, is the tagline of this musical take on the divide between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgium. The Flemish brass-band Saint Cecilia and their Wallon counterpart, En Avant, compete for the title of Europe’s best brass-band. The sudden loss of Saint Cecilia’s soloist just before the finals, prompts the conductor’s daughter, Elke, to recruit En Avant’s star-soloist, the self-absorbed Hugues. What follows is a hot mess of grudges, stereotyping, good music and a budding love story.

Seasoned filmmaker Vincent Bal started out as an actor, before shifting to directing for film and TV. His 2012 film, The Zigzag Kid earned him the European Film Academy’s Young Audience Award.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zoUYll9Ft8

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CHOCOLAT (France)

Director: Roschdy Zem,
Cast: Omar Sy, James Thierrée, Clotilde Hesme
Genre: Drama
110min ½  French with English Subtitles (2016)

Starring Omar Sy from The Intouchables (2011) and Swiss circus-artist (and Charlie Chaplin’s grandson) James Thierrée, this bio-pic tells of Cuban-born Rafael Padilla, who rose to fame in France in the late 1800s. Under the stage-name Chocolat and together with the white clown Footit, Padilla gains popularity with racist circus-routines that reduce him to a buffoon. When he tries to carve out a more dignified niche for himself, the same audiences that loved the racist cliché turn their back on him.

Roschdy Zem has explored the theme of racism both as an actor and director. He continues to do so in this bio-pic, praised for its historically accurate feel. 

(Courtesy of Ster Kinekor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=692hOJq1KJE

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LABYRINTH OF LIES (Germany)

Director: Giulio Ricciarelli
Cast: André Szymanski, Alexander Fehling, Friederike Becht
Genre: Drama
122min ½  German with English Subtitles (2014)

Johan Radmann is a newly appointed public prosecutor in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1958. Through a journalist, he learns that many Nazis returned to ordinary life with impunity after the war. Inspired by the memory of his late idolized father, Radmann decides to make sure that justice is done. The young idealist soon realizes that many of the war-criminals occupy powerful positions in society, and are prepared to go to great lengths to make sure that he does not succeed in his quest.

Labyrinth of Lies was Germany’s submission for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

(Courtesy of Ster-Kinekor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ovcBGMLEs

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FIRE AT SEA (Italy)

Director: Gianfranco Rosi
Cast: Samuele Pucillo, Pietro Bartolo
Genre: Documentary
108 min ½  Italian with English Subtitles (2016)

Gianfranco Rosi moved to Lampedusa, where he documented not primarily the catastrophe lived by those who seek refuge in Europe, but the curious absence of disruption in the lives of ordinary Lampedusans. Rosi follows Samuele, the precocious 9-year old son of a fisherman, who goes to school, loves hunting and suffers from sea-sickness. Parallel to the boy’s life, Rosi invites us into that of Pietro Bartolo, a medical doctor, who does not only attend to Samuele’s lazy eye, but also to the fleeing women, men and children arriving at Lampedusa.

Rosi’s gentle, poetic and unprejudiced touch won him the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEsWslaLKw

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A FAMILY AFFAIR (Netherlands)

Director: Tom Fassaert
Cast: Marianne Hertz, Rob Fassaert, Rene Fassaert
Genre: Documentary
120min ½  Dutch & English with English Subtitles (2014)

When his 95-year old grandmother – a former model and socialite – invites Tom Fassaert to visit her in South Africa, he seizes the opportunity to find out more about the dynamics and events that have left his father greatly disillusioned and his uncle Rene scarred for life. During his time with the conflicted and divisive matriarch, Fassaert gains insight into a history and psyche more complex and surreal than he could have imagined, and into the inner workings of a woman who challenged preconceived notions of motherhood long before it was fashionable to do so.

Fassaert’s family document opened the 2016 edition of the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvBsyh6d4sY

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BODY (Poland)

Director: Malgorzata Szumowska
Cast: Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala
Genre: Drama
90min ½  Polish with English Subtitles (2015)

A fascination for bodies (“physical, astral and dead, objectified, adored and hated”) lies behind Szumowska’s sombre comedy about three people trapped in individual universes of pain and absence.  Olga’s unprocessed grief over her dead mother manifests in self-hatred and severe anorexia. Her distant coroner father - a coroner - seems as unaffected by his daughter’s distress and the loss of his wife as by the dead bodies he deals with on a daily basis. Anna is a kind but lonely physical therapist with psychic abilities, who seeks to help the reluctant family to heal.

Body won Malgorzata Szumowska the awards for Best Director at Berlin International Film Festival and the European Film Awards in 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cOAHoj327Q

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MONTANHA (Portugal)

Director: João Salaviza
Cast: David Mourato, Maria João Pinho, Rodrigo Perdigão  
Genre: Drama
91min ½  Portuguese with English Subtitles (2015)

The death of David’s grandfather is imminent, yet the 14-year-old does not feel prepared to visit him in hospital. This mature coming-of-age drama unfolds during the course of a couple of days in Lisbon, during which David severs ties with his childhood. He roams around aimlessly as if he is looking to dissolve, killing time with a friend and his crush Paulinha - the only one David cares to hold on to. The further he drifts from his past, the closer he connects with the present and the notion of a future he never used to think of.

João Salaviza’s award-winning drama, which follows David’s transition into adulthood, is regarded by the filmmaker as his farewell to cinematic adolescence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kKTc8qkrH3g

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FLOWERS (Spain)

Director: John Garrano & Jose Mari Goenaga
Cast: Nagore Aranburo, Itziar Ituño, Itziar Aizpuru
Genre: Drama
99min ½  Spanish with English Subtitles (2014)

One day a bouquet of flowers appears at Ana’s doorstep, the subsequent week another bouquet arrives, and the week after that, yet another one. The anonymous sender upsets Ana’s partner, with whom she shares her flat and meals, but not much more. He holds the flower shop accountable for allowing just anybody to send flowers to anyone. After the death of a crane operator, his mother and his ex-wife are equally surprised to regularly find fresh flowers at the spot where he succumbed.

Flower bouquets at the sites of road accidents, as anonymous love letters or as mere proofs of existence, inspired this award-winning film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFZYvh7uT2A

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SOMETHING MUST BREAK (Sweden)

Director: Ester Martin Bergsmark
Cast: Saga Becker, Iggy Malmborg, Shima Niavarani
Genre: Drama
81min ½  Swedish with English Subtitles (2014)

Based on an auto-fictional novel by Eli Levén, who co-wrote the movie-script, Something Must Break, tells of Sebastian, a passionate, but self-destructive gender-queer 20-something. About to be beaten up, Sebastian is saved by Andreas. Despite Andreas identifying as straight, a complicated and intense love story develops between the two. Though a provocateur defiant in the face of conformity, Andreas is still troubled by his feelings for Sebastian. Sebastian struggles to not be overcome by the feelings for a non-committal, anxious lover, and also gets ready to let Ellie out – the woman inside, who is growing stronger every day.

Ester Martin Bergsmark’s debut feature has screened at festivals across the world and won numerous awards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXeZ0y4SAic

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AMY (UK)

Director: Asif Kapadia
Cast: Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Yasiin Bey
Genre: Documentary
128min ½  English (2015)

Asif Kapadia’s much talked about documentary follows Amy Winehouse from the early days of her extraordinary career, until the heart-breaking end. Relying mainly on never before shown footage, this intimate document traces the journey of the talented jazz-singer/songwriter until she achieved levels of fame no one could have dreamed of and the impacts on Winehouse and her family. Where media headlines focused on the drug-addict, who was a singer, Kapadia’s attention is on the extraordinarily gifted artist, who got stuck in drug abuse and self-destruction.

Among the many awards Asif Kapadia has won, are the 2016 Academy Awards for Best Documentary and the British Academy Film Awards equivalent.  

(Courtesy of Ster Kinekor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2yCIwmNuLE

Images permission to use: Getty Images

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ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE GOETHE-INSTITUT SOUTH AFRICA

MEDIA QUERIES:

National Publicity:  Bridget van Oerle / BUZ PUBLICITY: 

buz@buz.co.za / 083 263 6991 / 011 673 0264 / 011 477 0923

Durban Publicity: 

Sharlene Versfeld : Versfeld & Associates

sharlene@versfeld.co.za 083 3263235/ 031 8115628 

DIFF 2016: Call for Submissions

Media Release

DIFF 2016: Call for Submissions

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) invites filmmakers from across the world to submit their Short-, Documentary- or Feature Fiction films to screen in the festival from the 16 to 26 June 2016. The 37th edition of the festival is organized with key partnerships with the Durban Film Office, eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, National Film and Video Foundation and other valued funders and partners.

With screenings of cutting-edge cinema from around the world, containing as always a special focus on both South African and African films, the festival exhibits films in a range of diverse venues in and around the city of Durban. DIFF is the premiere platform for the launch of African films and a key gateway to the African film industry. The festival also includes an annual local and international awards component.

Only films completed in 2014, 2015 and 2016 will be considered, and there is no charge for entry. Submissions will be accepted via an ONLINE SCREENER. All submissions must be entered via the DIFF Visitor Page online at vp.eventival.eu/cca/diff2016 . In order to submit a film, an account needs to be created if this has not already been done in previous years. The deadline for all entries (short films, documentaries and feature fiction films), including delivery of screeners, is 29 February 2016. 

This year’s festival will feature a focus on the important issue of HIV and Aids within film; DIFF invites filmmakers with films on this subject to submit for consideration in this category.

Each edition of the festival features an extensive Industry Programme with seminars and workshops comprised of both local and international filmmakers and industry professionals. The programme is made up of the 9th Talents Durban (17 to 21 June 2016), presented in co-operation with Berlinale Talents, and the 7th Durban FilmMart (17 to 20 June 2016), presented in partnership with the Durban Film Office, as well as various other streams of programming.

For more information check out the festival Submission FAQs or visit: www.durbanfilmfest.co.za or email diff@ukzn.ac.za.

Follow the festival on Twitter (@DIFFest) and on Facebook.

Enquiries can be dircted to Mitchell Harper on Tel: (+27) 0312601650 or email: harpercca@gmail.com

The festival is hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal and is supported by the KwaZulu–Natal Film Commission, EThekwini Municipality, the National Film and Video Foundation, the German Embassy, Goethe Institut, the Gauteng Film Commission and the Film and Publication Board.

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REALNESS - An African Screenwriters Residency

REALNESS - An African Screenwriters Residency

CALL FOR ENTRY

Urucu Media, under the mentorship of Berlinale Talents, in partnership with Nirox, Durban FilmMart, Restless Talent Management, The French Institute in South Africa and Institute Français's Cinémas du Monde proudly presents REALNESS, a screenwriters residency for a new generation of African cinema.

From June to August 2016, 5 screenwriters will be invited to attend a seven-week residency to develop a new draft of their original feature screenplays. The aim of REALNESS is to provide the necessary time, space and support to help the continent's best emerging writing talents hone their unique cinematic vision.

Week 1 The residency will kick off on 16 June 2016 with an introductory week at Durban Filmmart, Africa's top co-production market. Residents will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in films, attend seminars and present their projects to industry professionals for feedback. Each resident will prepare a public presentation of their project at the end of the week.

Week 2-6 Residents will be transported to the Nirox artists residency inthe Cradle of Humankind, where they will spend six weeks working in a tranquil and nurturing living environment. During the first week, top international script consultants will conduct workshops and one-on-one sessions with the residents. Thereafter, residents will work at their own pace, with ongoing support in the form of workgroups with fellow writers, curated film screenings, producer-led case studies and discussions with visiting industry speakers. 

Week 7 In the final week, residents will have a debriefing and follow up Skype-sessions with their consultants. After leaving the residency, writers will be invited to submit a new draft of their screenplay by 30 September 2016. The most promising project to emerge from REALNESS will be invited and funded to participate in the prestigious La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde in Cannes, 2017. 

REALNESS recognizes the real-life demands of most writers and that taking time to develop a screenplay is not always economically viable. To this end, residents will receive a stipend of R15 000 and all food and accommodation expenses will be covered for the duration of their stay. Please note that residents will be responsible for their own travel costs to and from the residency. We will assist in efforts to obtain sponsorship from country culture desks, embassies & other interested institutions.

While the residency will be conducted in English, REALNESS facilitators are also able to do the training in French and/or Portuguese if participants are from Francophone or Lusophone African countries.

SUBMISSIONS

Please note, the submission window is from 1 November 2015 - 31 January 2016 (or until 120 applications have been received, whichever comes first)

Applicants must submit ONE PDF dossier containing:

• a motivation for wanting to participate in REALNESS (1 page) 
• a synopsis of the proposed feature project (1 page)
• a treatment of the proposed feature project (6 pages)
• a draft of the screenplay 
• a writer's note of intention (1 page)
• a short biography (1 paragraph)
• two links to samples of previously produced work, uploaded to vimeo. If selected, residents will be required to donate one copy of their previous work to the Nirox film library. 

The call is open to screenwriters from across the African continent and selection will be based on artistic merit. REALNESS will hold no legal claim over the work once the residency is completed.

All submitted material must be in English. A committee appointed by Urucu and their partners will read the project entries and conduct interviews with a shortlist of candidates early in March. The REALNESS selection will be announced at an event hosted by the pavilion Les Cinemas du Monde in Cannes, 2016.

Please submit dossiers to realness@urucumedia.com

http://www.urucumedia.com

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