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Explore the world of DIFF 2015 on iTunes

Media Release

Explore the world of DIFF on iTunes

Durban International Film Festival - July 16 – 26, 2015

Africa’s premier film event, the Durban International Film Festival, which is hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, presents its 36th edition from 16 to 26 July, 2015, in the east coast city of Durban, South Africa.

For the first time in the history of the festival, film-lovers can now explore the world of DIFF on iTunes at www.itunes.com/DIFF where they will be able to enjoy films that complement the official selection this year. Staying within the DIFF’s Areas of Focus, the films that fans can enjoy include Palme d’Or winners such as Marty, or experience the musical frenzy that is the Director’s Cut of Woodstock.

iTunes has a history of working with film festivals around the world such as Cannes, TRIBECA, Toronto Film Festival and more, so it’s great for  DIFF to now have a presence on the store. 

“Many people are unable to get to the DIFF, or simply do not have the time to see all the titles on offer at the festival so we are pleased that for the first time, we are building this special area on iTunes for people to access great films associated with DIFF.” says Pedro Pimenta, Director of DIFF. 

The festival also includes the Wavescape Surf Film Festival as well as important industry initiatives featuring a programme of seminars and workshops with notable industry figures, the 8th Talents Durban (in cooperation with the Berlinale Talents) and the 6th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office).

The festival is a hub for the African film industry and is an unmissable date for both industry representatives and lovers of film.

The full programme for the DIFF can be found on www.durbanfilmfest.co.za or follow us on Twitter at @DIFFest or Facebook on DurbanInternationalFilmFestival.

 

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Durban FilmMart Success Stories 2010-2015

Media Release

Durban FilmMart Success Stories 2010-2015

Now in its sixth year, the Durban FilmMart (DFM) has become an integral part of the fast-growing South African film industry. Since its inception in 2010, DFM has helped to facilitate more than 80 African co-production projects, many of which have subsequently been produced as acclaimed films. As the African and South African industry grows, the quality and volume of submitted projects has increased every year, making DFM the leading independent film market on the continent and a major force in the facilitation of successful African films.

As a result of DFM’s success, the Durban International Film Festival now regularly includes works from DFM alumni in its programme. Major fiction projects from the last 6 years that have had their genesis at DFM and were subsequently screened at DIFF include Ayanda (DFM 2013), the opening film at this year’s festival, the acclaimed Boda Boda Thieves (DFM 2011) from Ugandan co-operative Yes! That’s Us films and Imbabazi: The Pardon (DFM 2012), a personal account of the Rwandan genocide. Non-fiction films which have been screened at DIFF and made a major splash around the world include the South African gangster documentary Devil’s Lair (DFM 2012), Unearthed (DFM 2013) which explores the dangers of fracking and The Shore Break (DFM 2012), a vitally important film that chronicles the attempt of an international mining company to mine for titanium in one of the world’s last untouched natural areas.

Fiction Film Success Stories

The Nigerian film Confusion Na Wa  was a DFM project in 2010 and went on to win best film at the 2013 African Movie Awards, as well as other awards around the world. A dark comedy about a group of strangers whose fates become intertwined over the course of 24 hours, Confusion Na Wa was produced by Tom Rowlands-Rees and directed by Kenneth Gyang.

Imbabazi: the Pardon was one of the selected project at DFM in 2011, as a result of which producer-director Joel Karekezi attended the Rotterdam Lab in 2012. A very personal story about the genocide that took place in Rwanda, the film screened at DIFF 2014 as well as other festivals around the world, from Chicago to Luxor.

A Shot at the Big Time (DFM 2012) is inspired by the true story of director Janet van Eeden's brother, Jimmy, who took his own life rather than fight in the Apartheid border war.  After receiving its world premiere at DIFF, the film was selected for the Cannes Court Metrage, the short film corner of the official Cannes Festival 2014. The film was later nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the Independent Mzansi Short Film Festival. The feature film version of A Shot at the Big Time is currently in production.

Boda Boda Thieves began its life as a pitch at DFM 2011 and has gone on to receive international acclaim. A collaboration between South African producer James Tayler and Kenyan producer Sarah Muhoho, the project was awarded the CineMart Rotterdam Lab award at DFM and went on to win a Highlight Pitch Award at the Berlin Film Festival’s Talent Project Market.  The Boda Boda Thievestells the tale of a poverty-stricken family from Kampala, Uganda, who support themselves by driving a motorcycle taxi or ‘boda-boda’. Both producers and the film’s director Donald Mugisha are passionate about creating and developing content for African cinema, which they believe expresses a “proud identity of humanity, heritage and culture”.

Ayanda, which was selected as a project for DFM in 2013, will be opening the 36thedition of the Durban International Film Festival. Directed by Sara Blecher and produced by Terry Pheto, the film tells the story of a 21-year-old woman who fights to save her late father’s motor repair shop when it is threatened with closure.Ayanda received its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June this year where it was awarded a special mention in the world fiction category.

Documentary Success Stories

South African director Mayenzeke Baza's short documentary film Ndiyindoda (I Am a Man) tackles male circumcision, highlighting the dilemma it poses for South Africa as the country forges a position for itself in the modern world and attempts to reconcile its strongest traditions with newly enshrined democratic rights.Produced by Andy Jones, the project won Most Promising Documentary at DFM 2011, enabling Baza and Roughton to attend the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) later that year. The film premiered at the Encounters documentary festival and went on to be nominated for two South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) in 2014. The film also screened on the international news channel Al Jazeera and has helped to established Baza as a significant force in the South African film industry.

Devils Lair chronicles the life of a convicted murderer and gang leader named Braam as he comes to terms with a lifetime of dubious choices. Producer Neil Brandt and director Riaan Hendricks won Most Promising Documentary Project at DFM 2012 – which came with the opportunity to participate at IDFA Summer School and to pitch at the IDFA Forum The film went on to premiere at Hot Docs and became one of the highlights of DIFF 2013. It received three nominations at the SAFTAs in 2014, going on to win Best Feature and Best Editor, as well as numerous other awards at festivals around the world.

Unearthed, directed by Jolynn Minnaar and produced by Dylan Voogt, Stacey Keppler and Saskia Schiel, explores the effects of fracking in the United States in anticipation of proposed shale gas extraction in the Karoo and elsewhere in Southern Africa. Selected as a project for DFM 2013 and winning the WorldView Development Grant, the film screened to enthusiastic audiences at DIFF in 2014 and won the Green Award at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival the same year.

The Shore Break was selected as a DFM project in 2012 and premiered at IDFA in 2014. A powerful documentary whose narrative is every bit as engaging as a fiction thriller, the film will screen at DIFF this year and has already screened at the Encounters documentary film festival. It was the only South African documentary in Competition at IDFA 2014 and the only South African feature length documentary selected for Hot Docs 2015 in Toronto. The film won Best Feature Length Documentary at the 2015 Festival International du Film d'Environnement (FIFE) in Paris and the Backsberg Audience Choice Award at Encounters South African International Documentary Festival in June this year.

The Dreams of Shahrazad (DFM 2010) directed by Francois Verster and produced by Neil Brandt, Shameela Seedat and Wael Omar, explores the relationship between art and revolution through the famous story collection The 1001 Nights. The film received development and production support from DFM as well as the Sundance Institute, the IDFA Bertha Fund, the NFVF, the Hakkaya Network, the Dutch Film Fund and Spier Films, who also act as the films sales agent. The film premiered at the prestigious Masters Section of IDFA, and has gone on to receive critical acclaim and broadcast sales worldwide.

Other major successes that have emerged from DFM include the fiction-documentary hybrid Black President (DFM 2011), produced by Anna Teeman and directed by Mpumi Mcata (and also screening at DIFF this year), as well as the remarkable I, Afrikaner (DFM 2011), produced by Lauren Groenewald and directed by Annalet Steenkamp, which won Best South African documentary at DIFF in 2014. Khalo Matabane’s Mandela: The Myth and Me was selected as a DFM project in 2012 and won Special Jury at International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam IDFA. Like Rehad Desai’s Miners Shot Down (DFM 2013), it has been widely recognised as one of South Africa’s most important documentary films and has gone on to have an extremely rich life at festivals around the world.

Success Stories Still in the Making

Black Sunshine tells the story of a 12-year-old albino girl named Coco and her mother Rosemary who longs to escape her frustrating African reality which is dominated by issues of skin colour. Selected for DFM 2013, the project won Arte France’s Arte International Award and received the Tribeca All Access grant. Produced by Obibini Pictures and directed by Akosua Adoma Owusu, the project was also selected for the 2012 edition of Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors co-production market.

Solidarité , which has been renamed I am not a Witch, is a tragi-comedy about a Zambian child prodigy from first-time director Rungano Nyoni. Solidarité  was selected as project for DFM 2013 where Nyoni won the IFP Prize giving her the opportunity to present the project at IFP in New York. The same year Nyoni was also selected for the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation Résidence. The project was awarded development funding from the Hubert Bals Fund and also participated in the Locarno Open Doors co-production market, winning the Arte Prize and Vision Sud Est Prize. I am not a Witch is about to go into financing stage of pre-production.

 

Sea Monster from the now globally successful Triggerfish Studios tells the story of an obsessive-compulsive science geek who discovers a primordial sea monster off the coast of South Africa. Like its predecessor Khumba, which achieved sales in a large number of territories, Sea Monster is aimed at a global audience, taking on Dreamworks and Pixar at their own game. Directed by Anthony Silverston and produced by Stuart Forrest, Sea Monster is still in development.

Flatland from producer David Horler and director Jenna Cato Bass was selected for DFM 2012 where it scooped three awards: the WorldView prize for the most promising feature project, the IFFR prize and the European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) prize. Set in the Karoo, Flatland is a South African feminist western which tells the tale of three women who face mental and physical hardships as they search for a fabled apartheid-era nuclear bomb. The film hassince secured production support from the World Cinema Fund and has also secured a German co-producing partner, In Good Company, under producer Roshanak Behesht Nedjad. Flatland has secured intention for world sales from The Match Factory and production will begin in Winter 2016.

The 6th Durban FilmMart takes place in Durban, at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni from17 to 20 July 2015, during the 36th edition of the Durban International Film Festival (16-26 July 2015).

For more information on the Durban FilmMart and to register as a delegate visitwww.durbanfilmmart.com

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Issued on behalf of The Durban FilmMart by:

Sharlene Versfeld

Versfeld & Associates

 031-8116528/ 083 326 3235

Sharlene@versfeld.co.za/ info@versfeld.co.za

 

Note to Editors:

Herewith a selection of photos - if you have any special requests please let us know.

 

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.com

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.com

 The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) presents over 250 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

Backsberg Audience Choice Award for The Shore Break at Encounters

Media Release

Backsberg Audience Choice Award for The Shore Break at Encounters

Today it was announced that Ryley Grunenwald’s The Shore Break, won the prestigious Backsberg Audience Choice Award at Encounters South African International Documentary Festival for Best South African Film. The award-winning documentary film follows the dilemma faced by a rural community on South Africa’s Wild Coast as to whether to support or resist a proposed titanium mining project and a national tolled highway.

Grunenwald says she is thrilled with the accolade. “Both my co-producer Odette Geldenhuys and I are really pleased about the win. The Shore Break was a labour of love so it is very rewarding to know it is well received by South African audiences. It was an important story to tell because it captures the nuance and complexity around issues of developing the Wild Coast. The story follows two Pondo cousins who have opposing dreams for the future of their land. One wants to preserve the land through sustainable development while the other plans to mine it for titanium, believing large scale development is the only way to improve employment opportunities.”

“The audience award is based on a complicated calculation in which the festival takes into account the capacity of the cinemas, numbers of tickets sold and the votes cast.” says Odette Geldenhuys. “The film captured the imagination of festival goers, so much so that all our five scheduled screenings were sold out and we had to have two additional screenings in Cape Town and Johannesburg.”

Backsberg Estate Cellars CEO Simon Back  adds, “It is a great honour for us to sponsor the Audience Choice Awards. The aim of the awards is to raise awareness around the festival and what has resonated with audiences. With sustainability being core to the way we run our winery, I am also thrilled that both winners raise awareness around critical environmental matters.” 

The Shore Break, which was a project in the 2013 Durban FilmMart, will have its co-premiere at the 36th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) on July 18, 2015 with four screenings only during the festival which runs from July 16 to 26.

For more information about film go to www.theshorebreakmovie.com,

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/102621491

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theshorebreakmovie

Twitter: http://twitter.com/theshorebreak

and for the DIFF go to www.durbanfilmfestival.co.za

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Note to editors:

Digital stills, EPK and links to articles and reviews are available online:http://theshorebreakmovie.com/press/

The Shore Break had its European premiere at IDFA 2014 (Competition for First Appearance), The Netherlands, and had other screenings at FIFE 2015 (where it won Feature Length Documentary), France, FIFF 2015, France, Festival Millennium 2015, Belgium, Hot Docs 2015, Canada, Sydney International Film Festival 2015, Australia, Encounters International Documentary Film Festival 2015, South Africa and will be screened at DIFF 2015 and the International Film Festival for Human Rights 2015, Argentina.

Below are audience comments pulled from the Facebook page of the film, as well as the director’s and producer’s Facebook pages, or emailed to them.

"It is a wonderful film. Everyone possible must see it. Please put it on the Films for Action site. Congrats again.”

“During the panel discussion we felt Nonhle’s courage and her passion, which followed through from the film.”

“This is the best documentary I have ever seen.”

“Thanks so much for the film. What an accomplishment balancing all the layers and all the intrigue. Great stuff!”  

"The film is great on all levels – story, drama, great characters, fantastic footage and cinematography, topical subject matter, it is all there."

"The film was excellent. You did a sterling job."

"I watched your movie today. It was profoundly lovely and engaging and interesting. The animations were magical."

"What a feat balancing all the intrigue and complexity. Congrats!”

Eco-film about controversial titanium mining to co-premiere at Encounters International Documentary- and the Durban International Film Festivals

The Shore Break, an award-winning film that unpacks the dilemma faced by a rural community on South Africa’s Wild Coast as to whether to support or resist a proposed titanium mining project that could fundamentally change their lives forever, will have its South African co-premiere at the Encounters International Documentary Film Festival in June and at the Durban International Film Festival in July.

Directed by Ryley Grunenwald, The Shore Break was a selected project at the 2012 Durban FilmMart, the IDFA WorldView Summer School 2013, the Hot Docs Forum 2012 and the Hot Docs Dealmakers 2013. It is co-produced by two South African companies, Grunenwald’s Johannebsurg-based Marie-Vérité Films and Odette Geldenhuys’ Cape Town-based frank films. It was in competition at the recent International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and was named the Best Feature Length Documentary at the 2015 International Environmental Film Festival (FIFE) in Paris.

In the Amadiba area, in the heart of the breathtakingly beautiful Wild Coast, the Pondo people have tended their traditional way of life for centuries. A proposed titanium mine and the government’s controversial plan to build a highway across this ancestral ground, has polarized the community with those that see it as the beginning of the destruction of a way of life, and others who see it as a beacon of economic hope for the region.

Nonhle Mbuthuma, a young local eco-tour guide, is a staunch supporter of her people and the endangered environment on which their livelihood and culture depends. She wants to develop eco-tourism in order to protect her community’s homes, farms, graves and traditional lifestyle. Her cousin Zamille “Madiba” Qunya, a local entrepreneur and self-proclaimed modernizer, is fully supportive of the proposed mining operations and highway construction. Tired of his community living in poverty, Madiba scurrilously courts private capital and questionable government officials. While the South African President deposes the pro-environment Pondo Royal Family, Nonhle rallies support with little more than dogged determination.

“South Africa’s Wild Coast is my favourite place in the world – it has a rugged, mysterious beauty, and our family has been visiting there for years. When I heard about the proposed mining and toll road through the area, I could only imagine the extent of the environmental destruction of this pristine area,” says Grunenwald. “I met Nonhle Mbuthuma, who is a leader in her community, on one of my trips there. When I found out her arch enemy in favour of the developments was her own cousin and that the South African Government had dethroned her environmentally-conscious King Mpondombini Sigcau, it felt like something out of Shakespeare. I had to make a film about it.”

“In the early stages of filming I was only aware of how the titanium mine and highway threatened whatever was in their pathway,” explains Grunenwald. “However spending time with Madiba definitely made me see things from a broader perspective. He pointed out things that I couldn’t deny: the Wild Coast’s dire need for more schools, hospitals and employment. He believed large-scale development is the only hope for change. On the other hand Nonhle wanted development that would last longer than the 25-year lifespan of the mine. She believed alternative development such as expansive eco-tourism could develop the area without their having to give up their land and livelihood. Throughout production I kept changing my mind as to who was more ‘right’ about the development of the Wild Coast. The complexity intrigued me and I wanted to allow the audience to see things from both sides.”

“It is very easy for urban middle class people to want to protect the environment when its preservation does not impair their own access to necessary facilities,” says Grunenwald. “However rural people should not have to give up their land and livelihood in order to access basic services and opportunities. I was struck by the amaMpondo's connection to their land and their determination to protect it for future generations no matter what the cost. They are willing to die for it. We hope The Shore Break will be seen by a wide audience - not only to entertain but to raise awareness of what's going on and to stimulate debate about the development of our most picturesque coastline.”

Co-producer Geldenhuys, a public interest and human rights lawyer, says “I am very interested in what is development? How is it defined? Who defines? By being structured around the drama of a family feud, The Shore Break manages to ask this question in a non-academic way, but in a manner that ordinary people can relate to.”

Exquisitely filmed with arresting cinematography, The Shore Break is edited by Kerryn Assaizky, with original traditional cross-over music by local musician Ntombe Thongo, and sand animation by award-winning animator Justine Puren-Calverley. The almost Kentridgesque animation links sections and propositions in the film, subtly providing context and silent commentary, creating opportunities for the audience to reflect and muse.

The Shore Break has been selected by Bertha BRITDOC Connect Fund to use the film for outreach. The film will have free screenings in the affected area, with decision makers as well as other communities facing similar development struggles. “We’re regularly partnering with more NGOs who want to use The Shore Break in their work around development, community engagement, and extractive industries, “ says Grunenwald.

The film has been made possible by the South African government’s DTI Film Rebate Scheme, a public sector initiative which is ensuring that South African films, including The Shore Break are reaching exhibition. Other funders include Ford Foundation, National Film and Video Foundation, Knowledge Network, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Gauteng Film Commission, Worldview, Alter Cine Foundation, and the Hot Docs Blue Ice Film Fund.

The film will screen at Encounters International Documentary Film Festival in Cape Town during 4 to 14 June 2015 and at the Durban International Film Festival which takes place from July 16 to 26, 2015. It will also screen at the Sydney International Film Festival during June 2015; and has already been screened at the Festival Millennium 2015, Belgium, and Hot Docs 2015 in Canada.

For more information go to www.theshorebreakmovie.com

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/102621491

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theshorebreakmovie

Twitter: http://twitter.com/theshorebreak

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 Captions to photos attached embedded in the JPG files. There are more pics available and these are also available in higher resolution.

Digital stills, EPK and links to articles and reviews are available online: http://theshorebreakmovie.com/press/

Smoking Dragon Adrenalin Festival

Media Release

Smoking Dragon Adrenalin Festival May 22 to 24

Amphitheatre Backpackers, Northern Drakensberg

A unique event combining music and adrenalin-packed activities for the whole family adds a festive and celebratory atmosphere to the Amphitheatre World Heritage site in the Northern Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal from May 22 to 24. The Smoking Dragon Adrenalin Festival, is a new event hosted by the Amphitheatre Backpackers, whose popular new Year’s Smoking Dragon Festival has captured the imagination of revellers since 2009.

“There are so many organisations in the northern Drakensberg area that have such wonderful offerings for adventure seekers and nature lovers, that we have decided to combine music and adventure into one big creative festival for everyone from 0 to 100 to enjoy.” says Ilsa Roberts the festival director. “This inaugural event is an idea to bring like-minded music- and outdoor-lovers together to celebrate and enjoy the beautiful Berg.”

The Smoking Dragon Adrenalin Festival is all about “adrenalin”. There are a myriad activities to participate in, including skydiving (from the festival grounds), rock climbing, paragliding, abseiling, mountain biking, trail running, micro lighting, quad biking, off-road Segway or scooting, canopy touring, paintball, hiking (to the highest waterfall in Africa,) kloofing, white water rafting, bass fishing or hot air ballooning. Some of these are unique in that this is the first time that they will be available in the area.

“Festival goers will have access to these on site but are encouraged to explore the many adventure sports on offer in the surrounding region. There are separate charges for some of the adrenalin activities, which can be booked through the Smoking Dragon website, and of course, all safety and regulatory procedures will be adhered to.” says Ilsa.

Music on offer includes a range of reggae, folk and afro funk sounds with Stelth Ulvang (From The Lumineers), Shortstraw, The Tidal Waves, Champions Of The Sonarverse, Veranda Panda, Fools Of Fate, The Accidentals, The Gus Brown Band, Gavin Ferguson, Hezron Chetty, The Meditators, Inkhonjane No Bheseni, Dj Invizable and Dj Dubmasta China.

“There will be our usual food vendors, clean toilets and showers and full bars.” explains Roberts. “Music starts at 5pmon Friday and Saturday, after all the adrenalin has been used up, and ends at 12pm so that sportsmen and women will be guaranteed their much-needed sleep to get up and enjoy more fun the next day.”

All in all the festival will appeal to all across the generations. 18 years and younger come in for free and those born in or before 1950 pay half price.

The festival starts on Friday, May 22 at 3pm and runs until Sunday, May 24 closing at 3pm. Tickets are R600 for 3-day ticket which includes the 2 nights camping, 3 days of music, a free lucky draw to win another full ticket and R1000 worth of vouchers to be spent outside the festival on adventure activities, cafes, restaurants etc.

There are also day passes: Friday Access 1 day and 1 night camping at the festival R250, Saturday 1 day and 1 night camping R350,00 and Sunday Day only R100,00.  Tickets for accommodation and activities can be purchased online. For more information go to www.smokingdragon.co.za, or email amphibackpackers@worldonline.co.za or call 082 855 9767/076 8227508.

To see some of the activities on offer go to:  http://youtu.be/gN2wKQH7cmU

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Issued on behalf of Smoking Dragon:

Dear Mandela tours to informal settlement communities - April 30 - May 25, 2015

Award-winning film tours to informal settlement communities

April 30 - 25 May 2015

Dear Mandela, the multi award-winning documentary film, directed by Dara Kell and Christopher Nizza, will be screened in informal settlement communities on a national tour, to help highlight human rights issues and inform and educate people about their rights.

The film, which premiered at the Durban International Film Festival in 2011, follows the journey of three friends living in Durban's vast shantytowns who refuse to be moved from their shacks after the South African government begins to evict of shack dwellers in an endeavor to 'eradicate the slums'. From their humble homes, the three take their pleas to the highest court in the land as they invoke Nelson Mandela's example and become leaders in a growing social movement, known as Abahlali baseMjondolo. The film is at once inspiring, devastating and funny, offering a new perspective on the role that young people can play in political change and is a fascinating portrait of South Africa coming of age.

Winner of multiple awards, including Best South African Documentary at the Durban International Film Festival and a nomination for Best Documentary at the African Academy Awards, Dear Mandela has screened in 35 countries and been translated into 10 languages.

The national tour, is being launched at the Constitutional Court on Thursday, 30 April, with remarks by Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Dikgang Moseneke and a post-screening panel discussion and Q&A session with Justice Zak Yacoob, Abahlali baseMjondolo Founding President, S’bu Zikode and Youth Leader, Mazwi Nzimande. Thereafter will be screened in communities in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg facing similar challenges as those faced by the members of the Abahlali movement. Each screening of the tour will be followed by a Q&A and debate with AbM Founding President, S'bu Zikode and Youth Leader, Mazwi Nzimande. Both leaders have been directly affected by the wave of state repression. As documented in the film, S’bu’s family home at the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement was destroyed by ANC party loyalists in September 2009 and they were forced into hiding after repeated public death threats against him. They are currently back in hiding after more death threats, some coming from leaders in Durban. For the audience, the campaign presents an opportunity for these communities to engage with, and learn from, the issues raised and struggles depicted in the film.

The tour will also include accompanying workshops for community leaders, run by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI). Funded by the Ford Foundation, the project hopes to build a platform to connect the struggles of grassroots social movements and community based organizations, to equip these organizations with the necessary knowledge about their legal rights, and encourage them to partake in bringing about social change in their immediate environment.

“Ensuring that marginalised communities are trained and versed in their legal rights would mean that illegal evictions would be substantially curbed. Legal training and knowledge transfer would also result in pro-active community-driven claims to socio-economic entitlements, thereby enabling these communities to participate in the discourses of delivery from a legally secure position.” says Dara Kell. “The screening tour brings together community members and activists from all over South Africa to discuss forced evictions here, and around the world, connecting those at risk of forced eviction around the globe, and strengthening social movements working toward the right to adequate housing and dignity for all.”

Screenings are as follows:

Thursday, April 30: Launch at the Constitutional Court, Johannesburg, 18:00

Saturday, May 2: Workshop and Screening -  Masakane or Zandspruit Primary School (TBC) Zandspruit, Johannesburg

Sunday, May 3 Workshop and Screening - Evaton Community Centre, Evaton, Johannesburg

Saturday, May 9: Screening - Hindu Surat Foundation, 137 Dr Goonham Street, Durban CBD

Sunday, May 10: Screening - Silver City Community Hall, Umlazi Township, Durban

Saturday, May 16: Workshop and Screening -  Green Point Hall, Khayelitsha, Cape Town

Sunday, May 17: Workshop and Screening -  Community Hall, Sweet Home Farm, Phillipi, Cape Town

For more information and times, follow the tour on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Tumblr. (@dearmandela)

All screening information at: http://dearmandela.tumblr.com/ NOTE THIS URL TO BE UPDATED

This project is supported by the Sundance Institute, the Ford Foundation and Chicken & Egg Pictures. Sleeping Giant is a documentary and new media production company based in New York.

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More about the film

Watch the trailer in English: https://vimeo.com/26538549

What the critics said:

VARIETY: “Stirring…evocatively shot, lucidly edited.”

"GRIPPING, eye-opening…a call to action as much as it is an indictment of a government that has lost its way" - Charl Blignaut, City Press

"ENTHRALLING" - Mahala Magazine

"Leaves us with questions few have dared to ask about the new South Africa" - Marie Huchzermeyer, author of Cities With 'Slums'

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Book Day @Time of the Writer

Book Day @Time of the Writer

The Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) presents the 18th Time of the Writer from 16-21 March. This festival will be hosting a day-long programme with a focus on both aspiring writers and bibliophiles, aptly named, the Time of the Writer “Book Day” at the Open Plan Studio on Saturday, March 21 from 10:00- 14:30. The programme will feature a creative writing workshop, a range of publishing workshops, book launches and a storytelling programme for the kids by the Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust.

Open Plan Studio is a combined office, art, photo studio and event space situated on the 4th floor of a newly renovated light industrial building now known as The Design Factory that overlooks some of Durban’s most iconic features such as; the Lion Match Factory, both Kings Park and Moses Mabhida stadium, the Stables, Durban Club and the ocean beyond that. Through this conversion into studio space, Open Plan aims to become a new creative hub and precinct in the city of Durban.

Book Launches: There will be a number of book launches featuring a rich and varying lineup of books from local authors including: A Piece of Cake by Cecil Levin, Everyday Matters by Margaret Daymond, How to Teach Your Baby in the Womb by Hamza Moleleki, Letters to My Native Soil- Lewis Nkosi Writes Home by Lindy Stiebel, Poetry Potion Dear SA – Vol. 3, No. 8 by Poetry Potion, Rusty Bell by Nthikeng Mohlele, The Dream House by Craig Higginson and What About Meera by ZP Dala.

Publishing Forum: With publishing as one of the fundamental elements in the growth of a local literary culture, a rich line-up of speakers will participate in the Publishing Forum at this years’ Time of the Writer festival. The programme comprises various topics, including publishers discussing the publishing landscape, contemporary South African publishing, the process of compiling an editorial from contributors, and the process of self-publishing.

Creative Writing Workshop: An open workshop and discussion focusing on creative writing by three festival participants - Imraan Coovadia, Thando Mgqolozana and Craig Higginson

Storytelling with the Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust: The GAHT is founded on the success of its founding member, internationally renowned playwright, actress and storyteller, Gcina Mhlophe. The purpose of the GAHT edutainment is to promote a culture of reading and writing through skills-transfer workshops and performances at schools, the approach of the organization is to expose young emerging writers and performers at schools and communities to established writers and storytellers, so that they can learn skills from these well-known artists.

For more information contact the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal (031) 260 2506/1816 or  info@cca-ukzn.co.za. For the full programme go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or like the Facebook page: 18th Time of the Writer.

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) the 18th Time of the Writer, festival is made possible by support from our funders; the National Department of arts and Culture, eThekwini Municipality's Parks, Recreation and Culture Unit, the Goethe-Institut, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and Adams Booksellers as well as support from our partners; Pan Macmillan, Daily News, Computicket and the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

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Flatfoot Dance presents "days like these"

Media Release

Flatfoot Dance Company presents “days like these”

Durban’s inimitable Flatfoot Dance Company begins its 12th year in 2015 with a full blown performance season of innovative dance to lure, cajole, amuse, provoke and sheer-out entertain audiences. “Days like these” has a one week run at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from the 25 to 29 March 2015.

Always looking for new challenges, award-winning Durban based choreographer, Lliane Loots has delved into the theatre making methodologies of Verbatim Theatre to create “days like these”. Verbatim theatre, sometimes referred to as Documentary Theatre, asks the playwright to gather live testimony and the spoken word of real people to construct the dialogue of a drama. In this way the resultant theatre work achieves a degree of authenticity and truthfulness that allows real people a voice. With a history going back to the 60s, Verbatim Theatre has a long trajectory in creating edgy political theatre where these methodologies help create social dialogue.

Loots’s fascinating with Verbatim Theatre sparked and interest to see if there could be cross-over into contemporary dance. As Loots says; “the way that I work is essentially verbatim in that I am constantly asking the dancers to bring their own life experience – through their bodies – into the work we make. As a choreographer I have always thought of myself as a type of ‘collector of stories’; some of them are my own but others come from the dancers who I am working with”.

In “days like these”, Loots has asked the six resident FLATFOOT dancer and co-collaborators on this dance work (Sifiso Majola, Tshediso Kabulu, Sifiso Khumalo, Jabu Siphika, Julia Wilson and Zinhle Nzama) to go even deeper into this physical and spoken word storytelling and after a two week intensive and deeply personal workshop process around memory gathering, Loots then only set out to create the choreography around what she calls “a dance theatre work that takes everyday memories and begins to celebrate the sacred of what we all might feel is the commonplace of our lives”. She goes on to say, “what has resulted is an incredibly tender and beautiful interior dancescape that – for me anyway – will poignantly remind an audience of what it means to be human; and to be an African”.

Loots asked the dancers to dig for memories around three specific topics; food, politics and love/loss. As the process of re-membering went, Loots explains, “we sat with each other sometimes laughing till we cried and sometimes growing silent in a shared space of pain and solidarity. I am reminded again that the deeper we dig into the personal as artists, the more profoundly political our voices become”.

“days like these”, sees Loots return to a long time artistic partnership with award winning Durban theatre and filmmaker, Karen Logan. Logan’s videoscape for “days like these, sits at the heart of the work as it was her task to capture, verbatim, the final memories and stories collected.

Logan says, “working on “days like these” has me seriously excited. It’s always inspiring to work with Lliane Loots and the Flatfooters - this work in particular is meaty and uncompromising and is taking new leaps with the integration of the AV on multiple levels and surfaces and the melting of boundaries between documentary and dance. I think the results will be mesmerising, befitting the very personal layers of narrative that each dancer has woven into the work”.

“days like these” also features the subtle and imaginative lighting design of Wesley Maherry whose challenge was not only to help support the manifold projections, but to also find a way to light the dance that helped the stories unfold.

“days like these”, works with multiple projections and light, and as the images, the voices and the dancing bodies begin – in truth and vulnerability - to layer the stage space, so the remarkable magic of dance theatre starts to happen. We are reminded, in “days like these”, of the need for art and dance, to urge us, as audience, to unbury our own stories. Loots began this work in a response to Nigerian writer, Ben Okri’s comment;

"There is not a single person who is not touched by the silent presence of stories. A nation is as healthy and confident as the stories they tell themselves. Without fighting, stories have won over more people than all the great wars put together. The universe began as a story. Only those who have lived, suffered, thought deeply, loved profoundly, know joy and the pain of life, tell truly wonderful stories. Africa breathes stories."

Thursday’s performance (26 March @ 7.30pm) features a special after show “DANCE TALKS BACK” hosted by awarding winning arts journalist Adrienne Sichel in conversations with Loots and the dancers. This is a unique opportunity to listen to the dancers and choreographers unpack and answer questions about their work. Sichel comes to Durban as a guest from The Ar(t)chive at the Wits School of Arts.

Bookings are now open via Computicket. Ticket prices are R85 for adults, R50 for students/learners and pensioners. Block bookings of 10 or more people is also at R50 per ticket. 

 

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For more Information, interviews and pictures please contact:

Sharlene Versfeld
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 326 3235
Tel: +27 (0) 31 811 5628
Email: sharlene@versfeld.co.za
Website: www.versfeld.co.za

 

Reunion with Franco

Reunion with Franco

Franco Human, Dean of the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA) Durban,  recently returned from the Reunion Islands after attending the annual Festival International du Film d' Afrique et des Iles (FIFAI) in October as a guest of honour representing  AFDA.

The FIFAI began in 2003 with an aim to promote auteur cinema and showcase film makers from the Caribbean, Africa and the Indian Ocean. Other guests included Joel Zito Araujo, a Brazilian filmmaker and David Constantine, a film director from Mauritius. Mohamed Said Ouma, the artistic director of the festival said “Reunion has a special interest in the South African film industry because it appears to be reaching maturity.” South Africa has created a name for itself at the festival. A South African film won in the first FIFAI and this year a film titled Nelson Mandela, the myth and me by Khalo Matabane  which won the Best SA Documentary Film at the Durban International Film Festival, was selected for this year’s festival. Ouma said “it was an honour to have Franco and Vincent Moloi, the South African director and screenwriter for television and film at the festival”.  

Le Port is one of Durban’s thirteen sister cities. These two cities have been linked by active projects since 2005. “My main objective was to establish relations with film and art schools in Reunion to detect possible connections and perhaps work on an exchange and/or reciprocating programme.” said Franco. “This would be a great start to getting co-productions in place between schools and the industry, as they are a part of France and therefore fall under our co-production treaty with them.  Developing students through a reciprocation programme will lay the foundations needed for co-productions in the future. ”

Amongst people Franco met was the mayor of Le Port Jean–Yves Langenier, who is  suppoprtive of developing the creative industries in his city. Additionally, he met with École Supérieure d'Art de la Réunion (ESA) and The Institute of Indian Ocean Image (ILOI). ESA is the only French speaking higher education art institution in the Indian Ocean region, which also provides a platform for meetings, exchanges, exhibitions, conferences and seminars and is aptly described as a “laboratory of cultures for culture”.  ILOI is a vocational training school in Reunion specialized in the fields of image and new media. It has international networks that include reputable animation schools and universities across France, China, Africa and Europe. “ILOI and ESA are two ongoing relationships I hope to build on next year .” said Franco.  The visit and relationships formed, I am sure will add huge  value going forward to our school and the students and naturally by extension, into the future co-productions with Le Reunion.  Reunion is not far away from Durban and we look forward to the potential that could be realised through developing relationships with them.”  

Franco said that he was pleasantly surprised by the film industry in Reunion. “Of course, it helps that there is one to start with and it seems to be a very expressive industry more than a commercial one.  They create beautiful images judging by the few films I was able to see.”

“Establishing and deepening relationships with other countries may yield beneficial outcomes for Durban, particularly its film industry.” said Franco.

The AFDA Durban Campus, headed by Human, has been open for 2 years and is making a significant mark on the local film industry through developing young film industry entrepeneurs who are now being seconded to work on films during their spare time and vacs.

For more information go to www.afda.co.za.

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AFDA brings top international technology to Durban

AFDA brings top international technology to Durban 

There’s great excitement brewing in Durban’s film and television industry over new developments at AFDA, the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance in Durban. The school continually strives to keep up to date with the local film industry and at the cutting edge of film-making, and their latest advances are a testament to their efforts.

AFDA Cinematography students now have access to the ARRI Alexa Classic, the film industry’s leading name in digital cameras. ARRI film and digital cameras are used by the top directors and producers in the international industry. The films 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, which won three and seven Academy Awards respectively, were both filmed on this state of the art camera. AFDA Durban students will now be fortunate enough to have the opportunity to also work with the cameras used by these Oscar winners. Many top television series have also been shot on the Alexa, such as Downton Abbey, Vampire Diaries, Game of Thrones and more. “Having the ARRI Alexa available in Durban is a huge boost for the local industry,” says Richard Green, Producer and Head of the Film School at AFDA Durban. “Our Directors of Photography will now have the most up to date and professional cameras available to them. Our students at AFDA will be working with state-of-the-art equipment and will be well trained in the use of the ARRI Alexa when setting off on their careers.” In March 2015, AFDA Durban will be receiving a second ARRI Alexa which will then also be available for outside rental to the Durban film industry at large.

Also set to bolster AFDA’s equipment arsenal is an array of top quality, industry standard, lighting gear from Southern Lighting. Southern Lighting has been supplying lighting equipment and expertise to the Film and Television industry for the past 20 years from their branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Lagos, Nigeria. In a new arrangement with AFDA they will now have a local base at AFDA Durban, giving AFDA students and the Durban film industry easy access to a vast supply of world class lighting gear and technical expertise. “AFDA Durban is working to grow the industry with the industry, and in doing so boost our overall film scene in KwaZulu Natal. That is why we have invited the Southern Lighting gear rental company to join us in Durban”, says Franco Human, Campus Dean and COO of AFDA Durban.

Contact AFDA Durban on 031 569 2252 or log on to www.afda.co.za for more information. You can also follow AFDA and AFDA Durban on Facebook or Twitter, @AFDADURBAN and @AFDA_FilmSchool.

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AFDA ANNUAL FILM FESTIVAL

AFDA Annual Film Festival

The newest campus of South Africa’s #1 School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance, AFDA Durban, will be presenting its annual film, television and performance festival on Saturday, 22 November at the campus in Glen Anil.

Featuring the best of third year and postgraduate student films from AFDA Johannesburg and Cape Town as well first and second year student productions from AFDA Durban, the festival will highlight the work of SA’s top future film makers and entertainers. AFDA Durban Music and Stage students will also be performing live as well as the Television School’s shows being presented in a relaxed TV lounge set up in the school’s library.

Food and beverages will be on sale to keep festival goers’ stamina up for the movie marathon they’ll be enjoying. There will also be a bar for over-18’s and an outside chill area where film watchers can take time out between screenings, grab a bite and enjoy the open mic stage where Sonic Roisin will perform at 17:00, with AFDA music students also showcasing their talents.

A once-off entry fee of R20 grants you access to the entire festival, including all screenings and live performances. The festival opens at 09:30 with the first screening at 10:00 and the last finishing by 21:00. There will be film screenings throughout the day as well as first and second year stage performances being held in the Actor’s Studio at 18:00 and 20:00 respectively, whilst the live music performances will be outside.

Contact AFDA Durban on 031 569 2252 or log on to www.afda.co.za for more information. You can also follow AFDA or AFDA Durban on Facebook or Twitter @AFDADURBAN and @AFDA_FilmSchool.

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DIFF Announces Audience Award Winners for 2014

Durban International Film Festival Announces Audience Award Winners 
for 2014 After Another Successful Festival

The Durban International Film Festival has announced the winners of its audience awards for 2014. The winning feature is The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared from Swedish director Felix Herngren. Based on the internationally best-selling novel by Jonas Jonasson, this energetically oddball black comedy begins with irrepressible pensioner and dynamite expert Allan Karlsson’s escape from a retirement home. His subsequent cross-county shenanigans are interspersed with flashbacks to a past studded with extraordinary events and famous historical figures. Highly entertaining, its pastiche of history refracted through the life of an eccentric is reminiscent of a darker take on Forrest Gump. The film received nearly unanimous votes of excellent from the DIFF audience.

The DIFF 2014 audience award for best documentary goes to 1994: The Bloody Miracle, directed by Meg Rickards and Bert Haisma. As South Africa celebrates the 20th anniversary of the advent of democracy, the film chronicles the countless deaths and widespread mayhem which nearly brought South Africa to its knees in the early ‘90s and speaks to the hard men who did their best to thwart the transition to democracy and who have now made an uneasy peace with the ‘Rainbow Nation’.

More than 700 industry guests from around the world attended DIFF and its sister event the Durban FilmMart (DFM). With 202 films spread over 9 venues, and more than 350 screenings, the festival was once more a great success. With just over 30 300 seats occupied, including workshop and attendance at DFM, attendance at the festival increased slightly, with the number of sold-out venues increasing dramatically.

More than 2800 people attended the beach screenings, including the annual Wavescape opening event as well the additional four outdoor screenings funded by the British Council and the National Film and Video Foundation. In terms of the festival’s visual literacy programme, the festival once again presented a programme of youth-oriented films for more than 4000 students from schools in the region, who were provided with transportation to Suncoast CineCentre’s Supernova theatre.

DIFF together with the Durban Film Mart accommodated more than 300 guests and 1500 room nights at the newly renovated Tsogo Sun Elangeni and Maharani Complex, with hundreds of additional festival visitors paying their own way at the many hotels along the Durban beachfront. 72 temporary jobs were created, resulting in more than 5 000 job hours, while DFM hosted more than 900 meetings between local filmmakers and producers, financiers and distributors from around the world.

While DIFF and DFM provide a world class film event with a strong African focus, it is also an integral part of economic development within the local and national film industry and is an increasing driver of tourism. An Economic Impact Assessment study on the festival and the market will be released later this year.

The 35th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (a special project of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the College of Humanities, Cheryl Potgieter) with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development & Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, City of Durban, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, Industrial Development Corporation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and range of other valued partners.

-ENDS

Sharlene Versfeld

Versfeld & Associates

083 326 3235

 

Million Dollar Arm closing night film of The 35th Durban International Film Festival

Million Dollar Arm closing night film of The 35th Durban International Film Festival

The Durban International Film Festival (July 17 – 27) is extremely happy to present as its closing night film Million Dollar Arm (USA, 2014) from director Craig Gillespie, starring Jon Hamm. The screening will take place on Saturday the 26 July at 7pm and the Suncoast CineCentre Supernova.

Million Dollar Arm follows a once-successful sports agent named JB Bernstein who finds himself edged out by younger, slicker competitors. While watching cricket being played in India on late night TV, he comes up with an idea so radical it just might work. Why not go to India and find the next baseball pitching sensation? Setting off for Mumbai, JB stages a televised, nationwide competition. 40 000 hopefuls compete and two 18-year-old finalists, Rinku and Dinesh, emerge as winners. But JB’s job really begins when he returns to America to try to get the two young men signed to a major baseball league.

Talking about the film, Festival Manager, Peter Machen, saiys, “Million Dollar Arm is a film that is both accessible and engaging, as well as being beautifully crafted and filled with great performances, making it a strong festival title, as well providing an enjoyable note on which to close the festival after ten days of intense viewing"

The winning films in a variety of categories at Durban International Film Festival 2014 will be announced prior to the screening if the film.

The Durban International Film Festival ends this Sunday, July 27 . The festival includes more than 200 theatrical screenings and a full seminar and workshop programme, as well as the Wavescape Film Festival, the Wild Talk Africa Film Festival, and various industry initiatives, including the 7th Talent Campus Durban (in cooperation with the Berlin Talent Campus) and  the 5th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office).  For more information go tohttp://www.durbanfilmfestival.co.za/

The 35th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (a special project of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Humanities, Cheryl Potgieter) with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development & Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, City of Durban, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, Industrial Development Corporation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and arange of other valued partners.

 

The Durban International Festival Commemorates 35th Edition with Festival Poster Retrospective Exhibition at KZNSA

The Durban International Festival Commemorates 35th Edition with Festival Poster Retrospective Exhibition at KZNSA

In celebration of its 35th year, the Durban International Film Festival is delighted to announce a retrospective exhibition of its iconic poster design over the course of its existence. The exhibition will be presented for the duration of the festival at the KZNSA gallery cafe, which also serves as a hub for this year’s short film programme.

Since its inception in 1979, DIFF has grown from strength to strength, and is firmly cemented as a premiere event on the cultural calendar not only in the City of Durban, but across the country, continent and world. Every year, the high anticipation surrounding the ten day feast of cinema is marked by excitement around the release of the invariably innovative and recognizable poster design. For the first time in history, these posters have been brought together into a single collection that narrates the story of the longest-running film festival in the country through its pictorial history. Long-time festival goers will be treated to a nostalgic journey, while first-timers can enjoy an induction into the vivid world of the well-loved event through its graphic design, culminating in this year’s striking poster by Wesley van Eeden. The digital archive of posters can be found at http://www.cca.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/diff-archive.

Opening hours at KZNSA Gallery (166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood, Durban) are Tuesday to Friday: 9am - 5pm; Saturday: 9am - 4pm; Sunday, public holidays: 10am - 3pm. Closed on Mondays. Entrance is free, except during short film screenings (R20 entrance).

The Durban International Film Festival takes place from 17 – 27 July 2014. The festival includes more than 200 theatrical screenings and a full seminar and workshop programme, as well as the Wavescape Film Festival, the Wild Talk Africa Film Festival, and various industry initiatives, including the 7th Talents Durban (in cooperation with Talents Berlinale ) and  the 5th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office).  For more information go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za 
 


A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
 

1st DIFF (1979)             First DIFF takes place. Tickets to screenings cost R1.50. The founder and festival director is Ros Sarkin.

3rd DIFF (1981)            Poster design by Floris Eloff. Screenings take place at West Kine in West St, Durban.

4th DIFF (1982)            Poster design by Maria Criticos. Festival moves to the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.

5th DIFF (1983)            Poster designer unknown. Festival struggles to acquire films as commercial distributors unaccustomed to film festivals refuse access to films. They even threaten to deny cinema space to other companies who supply the festival with films. Government censorship is     also broadened.

6th DIFF (1984)            Poster design by Pippa Lea. Presented for the first time by the University of Natal (now UKZN).

7th DIFF (1985)            Poster design by Louise Baily. Festival expands to other venues across the city, as well as to Umlazi and other township areas.

8th DIFF (1986)            Poster design by Neville Trickett. First ever section devoted to South African cinema, with ten local documentaries.

9th DIFF (1987)            Poster design by Neville Trickett. South Africa in State of Emergency. DIFF screens Cry, The Beloved Country, and Alan Paton speaks. The programme includes a section on films devoted to Civil Rights and Justice. Corporate sponsors are introduced, including Natal Video, Legends restaurant, Southern Sun Hotels among others.

10th DIFF (1988)          Poster design by Georgia Sarkin.  Venues expanded to include Kine 600, the Playhouse Theatre and UKZN Shepstone 1.

11th DIFF (1989)          Poster design by Zahid Hoosen. The festival states that its policy is “to select films of superior quality which are not readily available in South Africa; films which highlight the problems and shortcomings of our own system; and films which promote political and social change in South Africa.”

13th DIFF (1991)          Poster design by Georgia Sarkin. DIFF creates association with progressive groups such as the National Organisation of Video and Allied Workers (NOVAW) and the Film and Allied Workers Organisation (FAWO).

14th DIFF (1992)          Poster design by Georgia Sarkin. Introduction of workshops and seminars to the programme.

15th DIFF (1993)          Poster design by Georgia Sarkin. Cultural boycotts against SA fade, and DIFF programme expands as a result.

16th DIFF (1994)          Poster design by Georgia Sarkin. DIFF celebrates first festival under democracy. Initiates schools programme and expands to include screenings in rural areas surrounding Durban on a year-round basis.

17th DIFF (1995)          Poster design by Georgia Sarkin. DIFF celebrates one year of democracy and 100 years of cinema.

18th DIFF (1997)          Poster design by Gulam Mather. DIFF returns after one year’s absence, and is scaled down and housed within the Centre for Creative Arts at UND (now UKZN). Gulam Mather takes over as Festival Manager. All screenings take place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.           

19th DIFF (1998)          Poster designer unknown. Festival dedicated to Prof. Teddy Sarkin, after the husband of long-time festival director and co-founder, Ros Sarkin, passed away.

20th DIFF (1999)          Poster designer unknown. DIFF celebrates 20 years, and the fact that it is the longest-running film festival in the country. Peter Rorvik takes over officially as director of the CCA, while AJ Nel joins Gulam Mather as Festival Manager.

21st DIFF (2000)           Poster design by ND Mazin (Andy Mason) and D Hadlow. Reintroduction of outreach screenings - in KwaMashu, Ntuzuma and Shongweni. Berea CineCentre is introduced as a new screening venue after its support of Cinema Sublime – a regular Durban screening of arthouse cinema on Sunday evenings.

22nd DIFF (2001)          Poster designer unknown. Nashen Moodley takes over as Festival Manager. Expansion of workshop programme. City of Durban comes on board as principal funder. The festival features a retrospective of films by Djibril Diop Mambety and Oliver Schmitz.

23rd DIFF (2002)          Poster design by Disturbance. Further expanded workshop programme. The closing night film is Amandla!.

24th DIFF (2003)          Poster design by Disturbance. Festival introduces four new venues: Ster Kinekor Nouveau, Gateway, Nu Metro CineCentre - Suncoast, Cinema Screen Entertainment at the Workshop and the Ekhaya Multi-arts Centre, Kwamashu. The festival receives support from the National Film and Video Foundation and the National Lottery. Outreach programme expanded.

25th DIFF (2004)          Poster design by Disturbance. DIFF celebrates its 25th year, and ten years of democracy. It also outlines its principal objectives as such:

“to produce a world class, professionally implemented cinema event; to present a broad selection of culturally diverse, quality films from around the world; to create a special focus on Africa and South Africa and provide an internationally recognized platform to promote South African film and filmmakers; to devise a relevant seminar and workshop programme aimed at filmmakers, aspirant filmmakers and general public; to develop a comprehensive and meaningful outreach screening programme; to strategise effective audience development in all areas and levels; to make KwaZulu-Natal an integral part of the South African film industry.”

26th DIFF (2005)          Poster design by Disturbance. Festival adds Ster Kinekor Musgrave to venues. Wavescape Surf Film Festival comes to DIFF for the first time, including an inflatable screen on the Bay of Plenty lawns.

27th DIFF (2006)          Poster design by Disturbance.  Introduction of the Amnesty Award for films focused on social justice. BAT Centre added as a venue.

28th DIFF (2007)          Poster design by Disturbance. 77 countries represented in the DIFF programme – the most ever. Poverty and Inequality Challenge Film Festival presented as part of DIFF to raise awareness about inequality created through poverty.

29th DIFF (2008)          Poster design by Disturbance. “Love Film/Hate Xenophobia” included as a major theme of the festival following the 2008 xenophobic crisis in South Africa. The first edition of Talent Campus Durban takes place.

30th DIFF (2009)          Poster design by Disturbance.  The festival celebrates its 30th year. The festival hub is located at the Royal Hotel.

31st DIFF (2010)           Poster design by Disturbance. The inaugural Durban Film Mart takes place in association with the Durban Film Office.

32nd DIFF (2011)          Poster design by Disturbance. The festival is dedicated to oppressed Iranian filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof. Nashen Moodley leaves the position of Festival Manager to run the Sydney Film Festival.

33rd DIFF (2012)          Poster design by Disturbance. The festival presents a programme of 175 films (as opposed to the 30 films in 1999). Peter Rorvik retires as the director of the CCA.

34th DIFF (2013)          Poster design by Disturbance. Peter Machen takes up the position of Festival Manager. Wild Talk Film Festival and Conference is introduced to the DIFF programme.

35th DIFF (2014)          Poster design by Wesley van Eeden. DIFF celebrates its 35th year, and South Africa celebrates twenty years of democracy.



The 35th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the 
University of KwaZulu-Natal (a special project of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the College of Humanities, Professor Cheryl Potgieter) with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development & Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, City of Durban, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, Industrial Development Corporation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and range of other valued partners.

 

Award winning documentary PLOT FOR PEACE to premiere at Durban International Film Festival

Award winning documentary PLOT FOR PEACE to premiere 

at Durban International Film Festival

In celebration of twenty years of South Africa’s democracy, the Ichikowitz Family Foundation (IFF) launches its African Oral History Archive (AOHA) initiative to pay tribute to those who lie at the heart of the events that shaped South Africa’s modern history. The film Plot for Peace is the first of a series of political and historical documentaries produced by AOHA that will roll out this year, and will be showcased for the first time on African soil at the Durban International Film Festival which takes place from July 17 to 27. This highly acclaimed documentary lands off the back of a successful tour of the international film festival and commercial circuit, winning no less than eight awards including; Best International Feature Documentary at the 25th Galway Film Festival and the Special Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The production team is led by multiple Emmy award-winning, South African filmmaker Mandy Jacobson.  The team uncovered the secret story of Jean-Yves Ollivier, aka ‘Monsiuer Jacques,’ whose behind-the-scenes bargaining was instrumental in bringing about regional peace and heralding the dawn of South Africa’s long walk to freedom.

Exclusive interviews from current and former heads of state including President Joachim Chissano, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, and other key role players including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Pik Botha, Jorge Risquet and Chester Crocker bear vivid testimony to the secret dealings that were able to secure regional peace and end the system of segregation that threatened to bring South Africa to its knees.

“In this narrative, we discover a story that Jean-Yves Ollivier kept secret for over thirty years.  It was like finding a character straight out of a John LeCarre novel and we were thus able to craft this true life historic story as a political thriller,” said Producer and Director Mandy Jacobson.

As a result of his contribution to democracy, Jean-Yves Ollivier received one of South Africa’s highest honours twice, the first time by last stalwart of apartheid, P.W. Botha, and the second time by the first President of the new South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

 Seen in commercial cinemas in France, United Kingdom and Spain thus far, Plot for Peace was produced by AOHA, a heritage preservation initiative funded by the IFF.

Ivor Ichikowitz, chairman and founder of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation notes, “The inspiration for this film emerged from hundreds of hours of original testimony around the liberation of South Africa gathered by the AOHA and demonstrates the importance of documenting our Continent’s acclaimed and unknown history makers. Subscribing to best journalistic practice, AOHA adopts no single point of view in its work, but rather, provides the raw material for open storytelling, the hallmark of democratic societies.”

The premiere screening at the Durban International Film Festival, will be attended by protagonist Jean-Yves Ollivier, Director and Producer Mandy Jacobson and Founder and Chairman of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, Ivor Ichikowitz.

 Plot for Peace at DIFF screening details

·       Date: 23 & 24 July 2014

·       Time: Premiere Screening at 18h00 on July 23

·       Venue: Sun Theatre 7, Suncoast Cinecentre, Suncoast Entertainment World

·       Note: Q&A session will follow the screening.

Plot for Peace opens for one week theatrical release

Fresh off the DIFF circuit, Plot for Peace will then move to Johannesburg for a one week theatrical release at the Cinema Nouveau in Rosebank starting on Friday 1st August and running until Thursday 7th August. Tickets will be available online and at the cinema.

 Second AOHA film to be screened at DIFF

Another of the AOHA’s Tribute series, Rainbow Makers: Tribute to Frontline States, will also be screened at DIFF on 20th and 23rd July.

Presented by the inimitable Shaka Sisulu, a child of exile himself, this portrait recognizes the extraordinary alliance known as “The Frontline States”, whose generosity and bravery provided a home in exile to the longest-lived revolutionary movement on the African Continent. Featuring interviews with over seven heads of state including Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda and the intimate stories from Max Sisulu, Albie Sachs, Mac Maharaj, Pallo Jordan and Ruth Mompati, along with other exiled icons.

Watch the press for further details on both screenings.

 http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/2014/documentary-films/

ENDS

About the Ichikowitz Family Foundation and its heritage initiative

The Ichikowitz Family Foundation was founded by Ivor Ichikowitz, a South African Industrialist and Philanthropist with a passion for Africa and its people. The Foundation carries forward a long family tradition of innovation, entrepreneurship and community engagement.

The Foundation is committed to being:-

  • a torchbearer for innovation through education and skills development
  • promoting understanding of our complex history by spreading the good news about Africa
  • building self-believe and confidence among Africans

·       conservation of the continent's biodiversity.

The Foundation’s African Oral History Archive (AOHA) initiative aims to safeguard Africa’s dynamic heritage for future generations. In a global effort, over 150 interviews have been recorded, giving unprecedented access to all those who have been instrumental in shaping South Africa’s modern history. The Archive charts the incremental changes, revolutions, set-backs and victories in Africa’s complex history and brings these stories to audiences across the globe

For the Celebrating Twenty Years of Democracy initiative, a six-part series called Rainbow Makers marks this historic event and will be shown on SABC during Heritage Month in September 2014.

The 35th Durban International Film Festival announces Hard to Get for its opening night film

The Durban International Film Festival (July 17 – 27) is extremely happy to announce that the opening film at DIFF 2014 will be Hard To Get from first-time feature director Zee Ntuli and produced by Junaid Ahmed and Helena Spring.

 

The film tells the story of TK, a handsome young womanizer from a small community who falls for a sexy, reckless young thief named Skiets. Thrust into Joburg’s criminal underworld TK realises that his best bet is to trust her and hang on for dear life.

 

The action romance explores the universal theme of love in the very specific context of contemporary South Africa. At its heart, it is simply a story of two young South Africans embarking on the universal adventure of falling in love, symbolically set against the dangerous, unpredictable, cruel and ruthless backdrop of Joburg’s criminal underworld. Says Zee Ntuli, “The criminal gauntlet parallels the emotional journey of TK and Skiets, providing a metaphor for how scary falling in love can be. Ultimately it is a hopeful story, one which carries the message that love is worth fighting for.”

Talking about the film, Festival Manager, Peter Machen, said, “I am very excited about Hard To Get. It’s a beautifully made film that works on every level and will satisfy commercial and art-house audiences alike. I also think that it’s going to make instant stars of its two leads Thishiwe Ziqubu and Pallance Dladla, who are both electrifying, as well as director Zee Ntuli, who is virtually guaranteed a bright future on the global filmmaking stage on the basis of this first feature.”

 

Machen continued, “With the production team of Helena Spring and Junaid Ahmed behind the film, I have a strong suspicion that this is going to be the one that cracks open local audience’s desire to watch strong local film products. I have no doubt that audiences will walk out of the theatre electrified, and will be filled with excitement about the rest of the festival. All of this makes Hard To Get the perfect opening film for DIFF 2014. Co-producer Helena Spring said, “Junaid and I are thrilled to be launching major new talent with Hard to Get. We are incredibly proud of the work that director Zee Ntuli, his team and cast, have delivered. There is already a great deal of buzz around the film and we have no doubt that a bright future awaits them.”

 

Junaid Ahmed mentioned that Hard To Get is the first of a slate of films that he and Spring are producing which showcase the talent of previously marginalised black filmmakers in South Africa. Ahmed went on to praise the assured and distinctive directorial debut of Ntuli, as well as that of co-writer TT Sibisi. “Hard To Get heralds the arrival of exciting new voices in South African cinema”. 

Although, Hard To Get is Ntuli’s first feature, he has already made his mark on the local film scene. He has written for the award-winning hit show Intersexions and has directed a humorous 40sec advert entitled Grandfather for Ster-Kinekor’s Vision Mission initiative. He has also directed music videos for the bands Crash Car Burn and Wrestlerish, as well having worked on Soul City and the crime drama Mshika-shika. Ntuli studied at AFDA, the School Of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance, winning the award for Best Film during all four years of studies. His 24 minute short film, Bomlambo (Those Of The Water), won the award for best fantasy film at the New York International Film Festival. Ntuli was nominated for best short film at the 2012 SAFTAs and has already had his short films screened at festivals in South Africa and around the world. His 12 minute short In Return (Emasisweni) was nominated as the South African candidate for the Student Oscars in 2010.

 

The Durban International Film Festival takes place from 17 – 27 July 2014. The festival includes more than 200 theatrical screenings and a full seminar and workshop programme, as well as the Wavescape Film Festival, the Wild Talk Africa Film Festival, and various industry initiatives, including the 7th Talent Campus Durban (in cooperation with the Berlin Talent Campus) and  the 5th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office).  For more information go to www.durbanfilmfestival.co.za

 

The 35th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (a special project of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Humanities, Cheryl Potgieter) with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development & Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, City of Durban, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, Industrial Development Corporation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and arange of other valued partners.