Durban International Film Festival Announces Award Winners for 2016

Durban International Film Festival Announces Award Winners for 2016

The Durban International Film Festival announced its award-winners tonight (June 25) at the closing ceremony of the festival’s 37th edition at the Playhouse prior to the screening of the closing film, The Space in Between – Marina Abramovic and Brazil.

The award for the Best Feature Film went to The Violin Player directed by Bauddhayan Mukherji.

The jury’s citation said: “A seductive and mysterious tale of a violin player’s mundane life and an interesting take on how chance encounters are almost predestined. By successfully weaving offbeat editing, brave cinematography, simple screenplay, honest direction and a lot of surprising elements, the film shows us that art, no matter how unimportant it may seem, can change peoples lives. “

The award for Best South African Feature Film went to Tess (a 2013 Durban FilmMart project), directed by Meg Rickards, which the jury described as “a measured and uncompromising debut feature.”

The Best Documentary award went to Martha and Niki directed by Tora Mkandawire Martens, which the jury describes as “visual feast that skillfully intertwines a profound reflection on (an) art form with the inner journey of two compelling characters.”

The jury made a special mention of Action Commandante, also a former Durban FilmMart project, by Nadine Cloete, for “its exceptional quality and commitment to its subject matter.”

The Best SA Documentary went to The Journeymen, directed by Sean Metelerkamp. The citation from the jurors said “The Journeymen takes an unflinching look at who we are by holding up the proverbial mirror to South African society. The honesty, bravery and commitment of the film crew results in a mosaic picture of our country with warts and all. This is strong and uncompromising cinema that is simultaneously disturbing and life-affirming.”

Best Short Film went to Grandma's Day (Dzie'n Babci) directed by Milosz Sakowski. The jury also made special mention in this category of the film Ave Maria directed by Basil Khalil.

The Best African Short Film Award, which is supported by the Gauteng Film Commission, went to New Eyes directed by Hiwot Admasu.

eKhaya (Home), directed by Shubham Mehta won the Best South African Short Film award, which is also supported by the Gauteng Film Commission.

The shorts jury also made special mention of two other films in this category - Amagugu directed by Ndududo Shandu and Discovery of Fire directed by Gerhard Pretorius.

The Best Actor Award went to Mohsen Namjoo for his performance in Radio Dream, directed by Babak Jalali. The award for Best Actress went to Christia Visser for her role as Tess in Tess directed by Meg Rickards.

The awards for Best Direction went to Ciro Guerra for Embrace Of The Serpent, Best Cinematography to  Chris Lotz for The Endless River and Best Screenplay went to Ciro Guerra and Thoedor Koch-Grunberg for Embrace of The Serpent.

A new award, the Best Editing , sponsored by SAGE (South Africa Guild of Editors), went to the to Tess which was edited by Linda Man. The award for Artistic Bravery was given to Neon Bull directed by Gabriel Mascaro for its unique portrayal of a little-known community of Brazilian Rodeo workers.

The Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award for the film that best reflects human rights issues which comes with a cash prize  donated by the Artists for the Human Rights Trust went to Noma, directed by Pablo Pineda.

The international jury this year was made up of four jurors: Bianca Balbuena, an award-wining producer from the Philippines, Fibby Kioria, the programme director of Maisha Foundation, an initiative founded by Mira Nair to empower visionary filmmakers in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, Sherif Awad  a film critic who currently works for the Luxor African Film Festival and Trevor Steele Taylor  a veteran of  festivals in South Africa, having programmed for the Cape Town International Film Festival, the Weekly Mail & Guardian Film Festival and DIFF and is the curator for film the National Arts Festival. 

The South African feature film jury consisted of film-makers Jahmil Qubeka and Melissa Parry while the documentary jurors were film-makers Rehad Desai, Omelga Mthiyane and Riaan Hendricks, and the short film jurors were film-makers Neil Coppen and Sumayya Rawat.

The Amnesty Jury consisted of Coral Vinsen, Nonhlanha Mkhize, Betty Rawheath and Mark Povall.

The audience choice awards for DIFF and for the Wavescape Film Festival will be announced on Monday.

Sunday is the last day of the festival. For more information go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za for details of the remaining screenings.

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Durban FilmMart Awards 2016

Media Release

Durban FilmMart Awards 2016

The Durban FilmMart (DFM), the industry development programme of the Durban Film Office and the Durban International Film Festival, wrapped up  tonight (June 20) with an awards ceremony at the Tsogo Maharani Hotel in Durban, South Africa.

“DFM is considered one of Africa’s most important film finance platforms and industry gatherings, and this year around 550 film-makers from around the globe, with a significant representation from Africa, attended the festival for four days of pitching, forums and networking sessions,” says Toni Monty, Head of the Durban Film Office. “Over 600 meetings were held, in a robust and very engaging event this year.”

An integral part of the DFM is the finance and co-production forum, which this year had 10 features and nine documentary films selected for intense mentoring and pitch sessions to financiers and distributors, and other industry representatives.

Over the years the DFM has developed key relationships with a variety of industry partners that have seen the value of supporting and developing African content for both continental and global markets. These partners have engaged with projects over the four days, and a number of grants and awards were provided to projects with the aim to support their further development.

The Awards/Grants:

·      The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program award for the documentary film project that demonstrated potential for strong storytelling craft, artistic use of visual language, originality, feasibility, and relevance went to Hatim’s Dream (Uganda - Producer: Nathan Magoola, Director: Matthew Bishanga). This projects receives a cash award of $5000 for further development.

·      Afridocs, the broadcast stream that sees African and other international documentaries screened across 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa on a weekly basis, gave a €3000 grant toTestament (Kenya, Producer: Meena Nanji, Directors: Meena Nanji and Zippy Kimundu).

·      The CineMart Award, sponsored by the co-production market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, went to the fiction project, Disco Afrika (Madagascar, Producer: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck, Executive Producers: Herizo Rabary and Randriamantsoa, Director: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck) which is given an opportunity to attend the Rotterdam Lab, a five-day training and networking event bringing together producers from all over the world.

·      The International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) awarded the most promising documentary project at the DFM, Wizard of Zim (South Africa, Producers: Lesedi Oluko Moche and Carolyn Carew, Director: Samora Sekhukhune) with an opportunity to attend theIDFA Forum, the largest and most influential meeting place for documentary filmmakers, producers, commissioning editors, funds, private financiers and other documentary stakeholders in Europe, in November.

·      Produire au Sud of Festival des 3 Continents (Nantes), awarded the fiction film Headland(South Africa, Producer: David Horler, Director: Elan Gamaker) an opportunity to attend its developmental workshop program, PAS, where they will be given tools, expertise, and opportunities to develop European networks.

·      The Restless Pitch award, is a one-on-one consultation for the project by Restless Talent Management, who provide development services such as image-building and positioning, project packaging, PR, and advises its clients on film sales, distribution and promotion. This was given to the project On the Bus by Nadine Cloete. Restless Talents also gave a special mention to the project Nama by Kelly-Eve Koopman. 

·      Videovision Entertainment awarded the “Best South African Film Project”  to Abnormal Loads (South Africa, Producer: Elias Ribeiro, Cait Panesgrouw. Director: Neil Coppen) a prize valued at R75 000, which guarantees its release once it is completed. The prize includes marketing and distribution support from Videovision Entertainment.

·      Versfeld & Associates, publicity consultants will develop publicity material and advise on publicity profiling through the development two projects – The Mango Tree that Danced with Sea Breeze (South Africa/ Kenya, Producer Lunghi Zondi and Philippa Ndisi-Hermann, Director Philippa Ndisi-Hermann) and Inga, Inge (Zimbabwe, Producer Veronique Doumbe, Director Tsitsi Dangarembga).

·  Sørfond awarded the project Un Fils (Tunisia, Producer: Habib Attia,Director: Mehdi M. Barsaoui) with an opportunity to pitch at the Sørfond Pitching Forum in Oslo later this year.

·      The International Organisation of La Francophonie awarded a grant of 5000 Euro for the Francophone project Disco Afrika (Madagascar, Producer: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck, Executive Producers: Herizo Rabary and Randriamantsoa, Director: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck).

“It is through these partnerships that DFM projects are able to develop further along the path to completion, so we would like to thank all our partners for their support,” says Toni Monty. “For independent filmmakers, the mentorship and support given by partners during the DFM, enables them to take their projects to the next level paving the way for the creation of a fully fledged product, which hopefully one day will return for exhibition at the Durban International Film Festival.”

For more information about the DFM go to www.durbanfilmmart.com.

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Dutch Delegation, Focus and Meetings at the DIFF & DFM

Media Release

Dutch Delegation, Focus and Meetings at the DIFF & DFM

The Durban International Film Festival this year hosts a Dutch focus at this year’s edition with five titles being screened, while the Durban FilmMart, welcomes a delegation from the Netherlands to meet South African film-makers to develop new networks in the country, and promote the treaty, which was signed earlier this year, between the two countries.

The Dutch film focus has been curated by Gertan Zuilhof of the Rotterdam Film Festival, in recognition of the Dutch-South African Co-production Treaty. Dutch feature films include the brilliant Schneider vs Bax, a contract-killer film with a difference, Full Contact about a remote drone operator who accidentally bombs a school, 12 Months in One Day which chronicles a bitter-sweet new year’s eve in Amsterdam, Prince, a powerful but nuanced coming-of-age story, and Zurich, which tells the story of Nina, a woman who attempts to lose herself in Europe’s motorways. The Dutch focus is rounded off with three short films that form part of the short film programme.

The delegation hosted by the NFVF, includes Frank Peijnenburg- Head of Screen at The Netherlands Film Fund, Laurette Schilling from Topkapi Films, Wilant Boekelman, from Dutch Muntain Movies, and Pieter van Hustee Film, met with South African producers at a brunch, and also presented a panel at the Durban FilmMart on Dutch co-production, funding and incentives.

The Netherlands Film Fund is the national agency responsible for supporting film production in the Netherlands and activities such as festivals and training. Its focus is to develop and strengthen Dutch cinema and film culture both domestically and internationally. The Film Fund also oversees the activities of the Netherlands Film Commission.

The Netherlands has treaties with Canada, France, Germany, China and South Africa and is now preparing a treaty with Wallonia Brussels Federation of Belgium.

“The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) congratulates Netherlands as the country of focus at this year’s edition of DIFF. “ says Head of Marketing & Communications, Peter Kwele. “In line with this and in recognition of the co-production treaty signed between two countries in December 2015, the NFVF have organised a few events involving Dutch filmmakers and their South African counterparts at the festival. These events are a means celebrate the treaty, MOU signed in May 2016 and encourage co-productions between Dutch and South African filmmakers.  “

For the full programmes go to www.durbanfilmmart.co.za and www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

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Camera roll on Khalo Matabane's 28's in KwaZulu Natal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cameras roll on Khalo Matabane’s 28’s in KwaZulu Natal

Award-winning director, Khalo Matabane (State of Violence, Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon and Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me), acknowledged as one of South Africa’s leading talents has begun shooting his latest feature, 28’s, a gritty exposé of life inside prison. The film, inspired by Jonny Steinberg's award-winning non-fiction novel, The Number, its big screen adaptation by Paul Ian Johnson reveals the origins of the fearsome numbers gangs that operate in prisons throughout South Africa.

Harking back to a sketchy 200-year-old tale, it's said that the 27s and 28s originate from group of highwaymen. These robbers, under the guidance of an elder, escaped the misery of the mines and white oppression only to roam the Zululand hills plundering colonial outposts and relieving travellers of their goods. Fast forward two centuries and we encounter Magadien, hardened repeat-offender whose life is his loyalty to his brothers in the 28’s. But something stirs his rebellion, a life-threatening move as there's no way out, of prison or from the sworn bloody oaths of his brotherhood.  This is a hard-hitting tale of the reality of South African prisons and near-impossible redemption.

Casting Director, Moonyeenn Lee and Matabane have assembled a strong cast which include Mothusi Magano (Of Good Report, Hotel Rwanda, Tsotsi) who leads as the conflicted Magadien, and is supported by Warren Masemola (Eye in the Sky, Machine Gun Preacher), and Sibusiso Msimang (Vaya); Presley Chwenegyagae (Tsotsi); Lemogang Tsipa (Eye in the Sky, Black Sails and Wallender); Kevin Smith (Isidingo, The Gospel According to St Matthew) and Deon Lotz (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Shepherds and Butchers, Skoonheid). Renowned South African story-teller Gcina Mhlophe plays Magadien’s mother. 

The production team is headed by award-winning producers Carolyn Carew and Tsholo Mashile (90 Plein Street and When We Were Black.)  Carolyn Carew says that the process of making this film has been long time in the making with Khalo spending the last few years with the real Magadien Wentzel in Cape Town and afterwards with ex-prisoners in KZN to fully grasp the language and culture of the gangs. 

Creative talents include Cinematographer Dewald Aukema (Skin, Angus Gibson & Jo Menell’s Mandela); Editor Megan Gill (Tsotsi, Miners Shot Down and Shepherds and Butchers);Production Designer Willie Botha (Kite; Art Director: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom; Special Effects: Black Dahlia, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency). 

Durban based Anant Singh's Videovision Entertainment are co-producers, and will also distribute the film. Anant Singh commented, “I have been an admirer of Khalo’s work for a long time and we are delighted to have the opportunity to work with him.  With his talent and creative vision for the project, he will certainly craft an amazing film.”

The production also marks the first co-production between South Africa and Reunion Island’s Tiktak Productions.  The film also received funding support from the KZN Film Commission, the National Film and Video Foundation and the Department of Trade and Industry.

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Caption to picture material attached:  Pictured in the prison courtyard China Boy (Presley Chweneyagae) and Buttons (Warren Masemola) decide on Magadien's (Mothusi Magano) fate in Khalo Matabane’s 28’s 

Notes for Editors

BORN FREE MEDIA    

BFM is an award winning South African film and television production-company specializing in fiction and non-fiction storytelling. They pride themselves on creating original and innovative content for the African continent and beyond. They have produced some of South Africa’s seminal documentaries and dramas. 

BFM was formed in January 2005, with three shareholders, Khalo Matabane as Creative Director, Carolyn Carew as Executive Producer and Tsholo Mashile as the Financial Manager.

KHALO MATABANE

Khalo Matabane is an award-winning director who directed and produced the part-doc part-fiction Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon which won the Lionel Ngakane Prize at Sithengi (Cape Town); Best South African Film at the Durban Film Festival; the Ecumenical Prize New York African Film Festival.  It screened in the Official Selection of the Toronto Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, Miami Film Festival, Flaherty Film Seminar 2007 (NYC), and London Human Rights Film Festival. It was broadcast on the Sundance Channel (USA) and SABC (South Africa).

His documentary Nelson Mandela, the Myth and Me, a BC/Arte Germany co-production won the Jury Special Prize at the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA). His first dramatic feature film State of Violence was shown to critical acclaim at the Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals.

His television drama series When We Were Black, a coming-of-age story of a young boy on the eve of student uprisings in 1976, went on to win 7 awards including Best TV Drama Series and Best Director at 2007 SAFTAS; Best Drama at Fespaco and the Reims International Film Festival and had special screenings at INPUT 2007 in Switzerland and the Durban International Film Festival. It was broadcast on Canal+ and SABC 1.

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For further information please contact:

Joy Sapieka e- joyls@mweb.co.za  or Sharlene Versfeld  sharlene@versfeld.co.za c- 083 3263235

Durban FilmMart 2013 Finance Forum Winner 'Five Fingers for Marseilles' saddles up

Media Release

DURBAN FILMMART 2013 FINANCE FORUM WINNER ‘FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES’ SADDLES UP

Seven years after writer Sean Drummond and director Michael Matthews first set out on an 8000km research and development journey around the country, The Be Phat Motel Film Company and Game 7 Films’ Five Fingers for Marseilles, which was a project at the 2013 Durban FilmMart, is taking its next big step to the big screen.  The film, a contemporary South African thriller modelled on the western and played in Sesotho and isiXhosa, with a top-tier, fully local cast, begins production in the Eastern Cape in July 2016, in association with Stage 5 Films and Above the Clouds. 

Once, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, twenty years after fleeing in disgrace, freedom-fighter-turned-‘outlaw’ Tau (Vuyo Dabula) returns, seeking only peaceful anonymity. Finding the town under vicious new threat, he must choose whether to run again or to reluctantly fight to free it.  Will the Five Fingers stand again?

Dabula heads an ensemble cast featuring Thishiwe Ziqubu, Kenneth Nkosi, Mduduzi Mabaso, Lizwi Vilakazi, Kenneth Fok, Anthony Oseyemi and Dean Fourie, with Jerry Mofokeng.  Cast by Moonyeenn Lee, the film will look to local Eastern Cape communities for a number of youth and supporting roles.

Five Fingers is Be Phat Motel’s first narrative feature, after international documentary and shorts success. Game 7 Films’ Yaron Schwartzman and Asger Hussain’s credits include Academy-Award-winning Precious, The Paperboy, and upcoming true-life crime-story 37.  Stage 5 Films’ credits include Silwerskermfees-winner Hollywood in my Huis, Unearthed, the upcoming The Whale Caller and DIFF opening film The Journeymen. 

The film was awarded DFM Finance Forum’s ‘Best South African Film in Development’ in 2013.  Indigenous Film Distribution will release in South Africa in 2017 and XYZ Films will represent for North American sales.  The film is made possible with the support of the NFVF and the DTI, with additional services from Dupa Films.

Five Fingers for Marseilles will premiere internationally in early 2017.

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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

DIFF and SAGE announce Editing Awards

Media Release

DIFF AND SAGE ANNOUNCE EDITING AWARDS

The South African Guild of Editors (SAGE) has announced that the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) has included an award for best editing this year. The American Cinema Editors (ACE) has over a number of years campaigned for the inclusion of a Film Editing awards category at international film festivals. In support of this initiative, SAGE consulted with the DIFF management team in early 2016, and the festival has decided to implement an award for Best Editor for this year’s festival.

"We appreciate everyone’s contribution to this success—most notably the American Cinema Editors for their petition for editors’ recognition at top-tier international film festivals. Further support came from the American Motion Picture Editors Guild, as well as several other international guilds and societies, presenting an unprecedented alliance for the recognition of the editor in the filmmaking process.” says SAGE Chairperson Marina du Toit.

In addition, DIFF has included Melissa Parry (Vice-chairperson) of SAGE as a judge on the South African jury, where she will be able to bring her considerable editing expertise to the judging process. "SAGE members’ contributions to the filmmaking process are recognised through the selection of their films at many international film festivals, including numerous films selected for DIFF,” says Parry. “We are pleased to recognise the work of two SAGE editors in this year’s festival,” says du Toit. “This year, three of the selected films at DIFF have SAGE editors: Khalid Shamis who, edited The Unseen and Action Commandant, which was a Durban FilmMart project and Nikki Comninos who edited Tarryn Crossman’s  Timelines."

SAGE has developed a close collaborative relationship with DIFF since 2012, aiming to further promote editors and the craft of editing at the festival. We value the huge contribution DIFF makes to our local film industry, and look forward to a fruitful relationship going forward.” says du Toit. "Advocating for editors’ recognition is an ongoing process and we urge our members to continue supporting our endeavours to obtain further recognition at other film festivals.”

“We are pleased to be able to offer an award this year for editing, which is a critical element of the whole creative process,” says Acting Festival Manager of DIFF, Peter Machen. “Sadly, editing is often overlooked in the filmmaking process, yet sensitive and astute editing is a vital part of the product.”

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. 

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

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

Award winning South African documentary at DIFF

Media Release

Award winning South African documentary at DIFF

The South African documentary Lost Tongue, winner of the Women Film Critics Circle Award, is set to screen at the 37th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) which takes place from June 16 and 26.

The feature-length documentary film draws attention to the plight of South Africa’s indigenous and marginalized Khomani San people and their desperate efforts to save their almost extinct N/uu language, with only three elderly people still speaking it. Lost Tongue follows the journey of Helena Steenkamp in her efforts to learn and save the language culture and values.

The film, directed by Davison Mudzingwa and produced by Mvura Ya Afrika Productions, received the prestigious Women Film Critics Circle Award after its premiere at the SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York in March this year, and has had sold out screenings at the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival. "We are excited to be part of DIFF,” said Mudzingwa. “We consider it to be the annual mecca for film in Africa and the fact that Lost Tongue is screening at DIFF is something we deeply cherish. The film that resonates with all of us as it speaks about the core aspects of our being as humans: identity, language and culture."

Lost Tongue, which is in competition at DIFF, will have three screenings during the festival. The opening screening will be on Friday, June 17, at 8.30pm at Musgrave Ster Kinekor, Wednesday, June 22, at 10pm at the Luthuli Museum in Groutville, and on Sunday, June 26, at8pm at Nu Metro Pavilion.

SAE Institute Cape Town, the world’s largest creative media educational institute, is partnering with MYA Productions to co-host the screening of the film. 

The film has been supported by Entrepreneurship Africa (EA) and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).

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

The Durban International Film Festival takes place from 16-26 June 2016. The Festival includes more than 250 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's KZNSA Gallery Short Films Hub and Journeymen Exhibition

Media Release

Durban’s KZNSA Gallery Short Films Hub and Journeymen Exhibition

The KZNSA Gallery in Glenwood, Durban will once again be the Short Films Hub for the 37th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). In addition, the gallery will be home to opening night film The Journeymen’s accompanying photographic exhibition entitled Twenty Journeyfrom June 18 to 24.

Twenty Journey is an exhibition that conveys the photographic journey of three South African photographers, the protagonists in the filmThe Journeymen - Sipho Mpongo, Wikus de Wet and Sean Metelerkamp. The trio travelled some 24 000 km around the country for over seven months, speaking to a fascinating array of different people that they came across, capturing images that represented those particular individuals and places. Collectively, these images tell a South African story in a captivating pictorial ensemble, shining a light on the intimate and interwoven nature of the people that make up a nation striving for identity and authentic restoration.

 “In their documentary, the frame is no longer still and installed in white gallery walls. The frame is moving through the mundane, the exciting, the discovered, the racial, the gendered, the rich, the poor, the educated, the illiterate, the intersections and the Journeymen,” says Khanyisile Mbongwa, curator of the Twenty Journey exhibition. “It is a project that, in its conception, questions the very existence of the horizon, set up within the context of a collapsing rainbow nation. It tasked itself to ask democracy questions about “Born-Frees”,“Land” and “Idiosyncrasies”.

Mbongwa is a Cape Town based award-winning curator and performative installation artist. She is the co-founding member of Gugulective, robust and innovative arts collective and co-founder of VASIKI Creative Citizens. Her work has been seen across South Africa, Germany, Spain, Sri Lanka, Scotland and New York among others.

The KZNSA Gallery in 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood, will be the hub for the exhibition and short films that are part of DIFF. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sundays 10am to 3pm. Screenings of the short films are at 6pm and 8pm.

For films in the shorts line-up see the DIFF programme booklet available at the DIFF venues, or the website. 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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Captions to photo: Stills from the Twenty Journey Exhibition - each photo is labelled with each photographer’s name

37th Durban International Film Festival: Free Public Screenings

Media Release

37th Durban International Film Festival: Free Public Screenings

The Durban International Film Festival, which takes place from June 16 to 26, will host a series of free public screenings. The DIFF will travel to Clermont, Kwangcolosi, Inanda, Umlazi, KwaMashu and the city centre, where people will have the opportunity to watch this year’s opening night film The Journeymen as well as the comedy - Wonder Boy for President, starring Kagiso Lediga.

The Journeymen is a documentary filmed in 2014, the year in which South Africa celebrated 20 years of democracy and mourned Nelson Mandela’s death. The film chronicles the free-wheeling journey of three South African photographers (Sean Metelerkamp, Sipho Mpongo and Wikus De Wet) across the country as they explore the current state of South Africa with GoPro cameras strapped to their chests, feeling its pulse and asking the question: “Has Mandela’s vision of equality in a rainbow nation been achieved?” The film answers this question with a kaleidoscopic set of responses that is disturbing, beautiful, thought-provoking and, more than anything, movingly surreal. 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. 

Directed by John Barker, Wonder Boy for President tells a story of Wonder Boy, a charismatic and authoritative young man from the Eastern Cape (played by master comedian Kagiso Lediga), who is coerced into running for president by two dubious and corrupt characters played by Ntosh Madlingozi and Tony Miyambo. Their aim is to mould him into a great politician and manufacture his down-fall at the right time, for the right price. It is a political satire that delves into political dynamics and the challenges that arise.

Programme – both films will be screened each day

Saturday, 18 June at 10:00am at Clermont Library

Monday, 20 June at 10:00am at Wushwini Arts Centre at Kwangcolosi

Tuesday, 21 June at 10:00am at Ohlange Library, Inanda

Thursday, 23 June at 10:00am Umlazi W Library W

Friday, 24 June at 10:00am at Creative Arts College on Dr Pixley Kasema Street (West Street)

Saturday, 25 June at 10:00am at KwaMashu Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre (KCAP)

For general enquiries call 031 260 2506, logon to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za, follow on Twitter @Diffest  and like the Facebook page Durbaninternationalfilmfestival.

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 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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Wonder Boy for President - World Premiere at DIFF

MEDIA RELEASE

Wonder Boy for President – World Premiere at DIFF

The world premiere of John Barker’s new mockumentary Wonder Boy for President starring Kagiso Lediga will take place at the Durban International Film Festival on Friday, June 17 at the Playhouse.

Wonder Boy for President tells a story of Wonder Boy, a charismatic and authoritative young man from the Eastern Cape, who is coerced into running for president by two dubious and corrupt characters played by Ntosh Madlingozi and Tony Miyambo. Their aim is to mould him into a great politician and manufacture his down-fall at the right time, for the right price. It is a political satire that delves into political dynamics and challenges that arise.

Barker and Lediga are no strangers to local television scene and international stages. Lediga was a writer and co-lead in the South African film Bunny Chow, which was officially selected for the Toronto Film Festival and also selected for, and won awards at the Rotterdam International Film Festival (Tiger Awards), American Film Institute Festival, Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne Film Festival. Wonder Boy for President is co-produced and directed by John Barker who won a Golden Horn Award for Best Achievement in Directing in a TV Soap forIsibaya last year and another Golden Horn Award for Best Achievement in Directing in a Feature Film for Bunny Chow in 2007.

Thishiwe Ziqubu, who enthralled audiences with her smouldering lead in Hard to Get which opened the DIFF in 2014, plays Mbali Sithole, the ambitious young leader of the official opposition, and the love interest in this side-splitting spoof.

Others in the cast include John Vlismas as Emeric “the dodgy dude with a gun”, Akin Omotoso as “a Nigerian on the street”, Loyiso Gola as himself and Barker as a “dodgy construction guy”.

“We were really blessed to have a whole bunch of South Africa’s top comedians who collaborated on the film with us,” says Barker. “At a time when the rand/ dollar has set a morose mood in the country, and amid all the doom and gloom in the media about corruption, greed and cronyism, it was fabulous to make a film that could parody the current times, make us take a deep long look at the absurdity of it and laugh.  Perhaps we all will see some of ourselves in these characters – and perhaps it will help people to make the change they need.”

With the likes of other cast member such as David Kibuuka, Zabalaza Mchunu, Lara Lipschitz, Bryan Van Niekerk, Christopher Steenkamp, Camilo Saloojee, Daniel Friedman, Ntokozo Majozi, Tshepo Mogale, Lazola Gola, Robbie Collins, Mary Twala and Mojack, Wonder Boy for President packs in the punches and laughs for 92 minutes.

“And then there are a host of well-known faces, that, um, play themselves” explains Barker “including President Jacob Zuma, Julius Malema, Mmusi Maimane, Floyd Shivambu, Cyril Ramaphosa, Zwelinzima Vavi, Helen Zille, and Zapiro, as we have used available footage from various news sources and spliced it into (in)appropriate places to add to the laughs.”

The film, produced through Barking Rat Film in association with Dog Pack Collective, has been produced by John Barker and Kagiso Lediga and co-produced by Tammy Lewis-Houghting and Jeremy Nathan.  The film will be released on circuit later this year by Indigenous Films.

Script is by Barker, Camillo Saloojee, Christopher Steenkamp and Saki Bergh. Most of the music has been composed and performed by Durban band Thee Legacy led by Jabulani Mthembu.

The film premieres at the Playhouse on Friday, 17 June at 8pm and will be screened at the Playhouse on Sunday, 19 June at 6.15pm and Saturday, 25 June at 2pm and at number of community venues.

The 37th Durban International Film Festival takes place from 16 - 26 June at 15 locations across Durban.  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, Twitter- @DIFFest, Facebook- Durban International Film Festival. The full programme will be available online from June 3.

The DIFF 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.

Twitter - @WonderBoy4Pres

Facebook - Wonder Boy for President

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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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Wavescape Film Festival at the Durban International Film Festival

Media Release

Wavescape Film Festival at the Durban International Film Festival

Wavescape has announced a new venue, as well as the lineup of 21 films set for the 11th Wavescape Film Festival at the Durban International Film Festival, which takes place from 16 to 26 June this year.

The Wavecsape Film Festival, which features films about surfing, the ocean and associated adventure sports, opens with the much celebrated Bay of Plenty outdoor screening on Sunday 19 June at 7pm, with indoor screenings taking place Monday to Friday 20 to 24 June at the Rivertown Beerhall (www.facebook.com/rivertownbeerhall).

Wavescape’s Steve Pike, director of the Wavescape Film Festival, said: “we're very excited to have the Beerhall - an awesome creative entertainment space at 102 Prince Alfred Street (Florence Nzama) - for the indoor screenings. These take place as before, with two screenings a night, at 6pm and 8pm.”

“To celebrate the change of venue, we have also teamed up with Poison City Brewing (www.poison.city), who will be selling craft beer at the Beerhall.”

Spike said that they were very happy with the quality and variety of their curated selection this year, which numbers 21 films from every “corner of the planet, and featuring every conceivable cinematic and surfing technique”.

The outdoor screening at the Bay of Plenty on Sunday 19 June includes Searching Sirocco (beautiful skateboard short featuring star Kilian Martin), The Wild (short film shot on 4k Red cameras), Skeleton Bay (short movie shot by Chris Rogers), The Man and the Sea (a Derek Hynd short, going finless at JBay), and the main feature, the John John Florence smash hit View from a Blue Moon.

‘The daily indoor screenings also include a selection of excellent documentaries and short films,” says Pike. “You will see red hot surfing and graceful soul surfing, set to amazing music. You will hear fascinating stories from countries as far afield as Norway, the West Indies, Polynesia, Tahiti, Iceland, Madagascar, Indonesia, Portugal, Ireland and Namibia, and cover every terrain, from frozen wildernesses to desert landscapes to lush tropical seas. “

The beachfront screening is free. Screenings at Rivertown cost R30.

Features

Bjørnøya (Bear Island) (82 min), Psychic Migrations (60 min), The Wave I Ride (60 min), View From A Blue Moon (60 min), Devocean (45 min), Deeper (35 min), The Fisherman’s Son (29 min), The More Things Change (27 min), Exploring Madagascar (25 min), No Country For Cold Men (23 min), No Regrets (20 min)

Shorts

The Sound Of Silence (11 min), Deep Islands (8 min), Lunar (8 min), Searching Sirocco (7 min), The Wild (7 min), Denali (7 min), The Man And The Sea (5 min), Skeleton Bay (5 min), Into The Sunrise (5 min), A Day In The Life Of Slade Prestwich (4 min), Ocean Gravity s(4 min)

Instagram www.instagram.com/WavescapeSA

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

Twitter www.twitter.com/WavescapeSA

#wavescapefestival

@DIFFest #DIFF2016

More info

https://www.facebook.com/rivertownbeerhall

http://www.wavescapefestival.com

http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

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

Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu to feature at 37th Durban International Film Festival

MEDIA RELEASE

Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu to feature at 37th Durban International Film Festival

Kalushi, the South African feature film directed by Mandla Dube, about the life of freedom fighter Solomon Mahlangu, is scheduled to be screened at this year’s edition of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) which takes place from June 16 to 26.

Based on a true story written and produced by Mandla Dube with Leon Otto, the biopic, which has taken nearly nine years to complete, has been hailed as an important South African story.Kalushi chronicles the life of Solomon Mahlangu (played by Thabo Rametsi) whose life was ended at the age of 23 by execution during the height of apartheid. Mahlangu was a typical teenager at the time, growing up in the poverty stricken community of Mamelodi. He was a hawker on the township’s streets and trains in order to support himself and his family. After a brutal beating at the hands of the police, he went into exile to join the liberation movement andjoined the African National Congress. in 1976, he was trained as an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) soldier. After undergoing military training, Mahlangu and his friends were caught in a gun battle with police in Johannesburg’s CBD,which resulted in two men being killed and two others wounded.  Mahlangu’s friend Mondy (played by Thabo Malema), is severely beaten and tortured, while Kalushi faces a daunting trial in which the State seeks the highest punishment, death by hanging. Despite being innocent of the killing of two civilians during an attempted escape from the police, he was sentenced to death under the charge of “sharing the common purpose” of the group of activists.

“This is a film for people who care about the next person. This is how we honour Solomon Mahlangu. It’s about our humanity as human beings,” says award winning cinematographer and director Mandla Dube. “We see an ordinary young man who somehow becomes a political icon and, through this film, we see him transform from an average hawker to a human rights legend.”

The film marks the 35th anniversary of the death of Mahlangu and has received support from the South African government, notably a personal letter of endorsement by President Jacob Zuma, as well as the blessings of the Mahlangu family.

Kalushi screens at DIFF on Saturday, June 18, at 16:00 at The Playhouse, Thursday, June 23, at 12:00 at Luthuli Museum in Groutville and Saturday, June 25 at 20:00 at Musgrave Ster Kinekor.

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.

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

-ends

Sharlene Versfeld / Ayanda Mabanga/ Sipho Ngwenya
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 SPAR 10km Women’s Challenge - Results

Durban SPAR 10km Women’s Challenge

Sunday June 5

IN one of the most decisive performances in the 27-year history of the race Olympian Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank Running Club) devastated the rest of the field to win today’s Durban leg of the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge in an inaugural course record of 33 minutes 26 seconds in perfect running conditions.

Van Zyl (nee Van Blerk), the 2010 and 2011 winner, set an incredibly fast pace right from the start in Masabalala Yengwa Avenue outside the Growthpoint King’s Park Stadium and had dropped off all her serious challengers including second-placed Cornelia Joubert (34:26) and third-placed Lebo-Diana Phalula (34:39), both of Boxer AC, by the 5km halfway mark.

Running at a steady pace of 3:20 per kilometre for the entire duration of the race Van Zyl proved too fast for her other challengers, Zimbabwean Rutendo Nyahora (34:48), Glenrose Xaba (34:50) and Christine Kalmer (35:05) who all crossed the line virtually together to fill fourth, fifth and sixth places this time around.

Despite her impressive performance, Van Zyl said she would have liked to have posted a faster time except that she was nursing a knee injury as a result of a fall during a training run a couple of weeks ago but had decided to run the race to give her knee a try-out in what has become known in roadrunning circles as “the country’s most beautiful race” led out annually by the traditional vanguard of bikers from Steelwings Club on their shining Harley Davidson motorcycles. 

Van Zyl said after the race that not only had her knee passed the test but that she had also benefitted by gaining some badly needed confidence she could take forward in her preparations for the marathon event she will run at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Unbeaten in the SPAR Grand Prix so far this year, van Zyl said her focus from now on would be exclusively for the Olympic Games Marathon which she raced at the London Olympics four years ago. 

“Winning races gives you confidence,” she said. “But I also get confidence from my training.”

“When I went to the Olympics in London I was quite overwhelmed by the occasion, but I believe this time I will be better prepared as I know what to expect,” she said.

Joubert expressed mixed feelings about her performance today saying: “I came fourth last year and second this year but my time today was slower than last year’s and this a cause for concern."

Phalula, another destined to run the Olympic marathon along with Van Zyl and Christine Kalmer, was also unhappy with her time on the fast, flat course which took in a few kilometres along the scenic Durban beachfront.

“We will all have to be aiming for faster times on the road to Rio,” she said.

Victory in today’s Durban leg of the lucrative SPAR Grand Prix Series came on the back of Van Zyl’s first places in the opening legs of the GP series in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth with two legs yet to come, Pretoria on September 3 and Johannesburg on October 9.

Her effort today earned her R20 000 which she also collected for winning in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

“We were pleased with the new route, and a new look and feel for the Challenge this year at Growthpoint Kings Park Stadium,” said Rob Philipson, MD of SPAR KZN. “It was fantastic having our race so well supported and the energy was really palpable. We are in awe of the athletic prowess of the top runners, but we also applaud the amazing efforts shown by young and old alike – it was amazing to see participants as young as nine years walking together with some that were older than 80!”

There was an entry of 16 074 at the close of registration late on Saturday afternoon with most women opting for the 10km run/ walk and the balance signing up for the 5km fun run/ walk.

KPMG runners dominated the junior age group category led by Simonay Weitsz (36:27), Yandiswa Shange (37:51) and Carina Viljoen (37:56) with Janie Grundling (Boxer) taking the 35-39 years age group category in 35:49, Tanith Maxwell the 40-49 years in 35:39, Ansie Breytenbach the 50-59 in 44:22 and Sandra Fismer the over 60 years in 46:25 which saw the ever-present 60-year-old Blanche Moila coming second in 49:21.

 Results

Open 10km

1 Irvette van Zyl 33:26 (Nedbank), 2 Cornelia Joubert (Boxer) 34:26, 3 Lebo-Diana Phalula (Boxer) 34:39, 4 Rutendo Nyahora (Nedbank) 34:48, 5 Glenrose Xaba 34:50, 6 Christine Kalmer (KPMG) 35:05, 7 Mapaseka Makhanya 35:29, 8 Jenet Dlamini 35:33, 9 Tanith Maxwell 35:39, 10 Janie Grundling 35:49

Female Junior 10km

1 Simonay Weitsz (KPMG) 36:27, 2 Yandiswa Shange (KPMG)  37:51, 3 Carina Viljoen (KPMG)  37:56

Female 35-39

1 Janie Grundling (Boxer) 35:49, 2 Bulelwa Simae (Nedbank) 37:24, 3 Poppy Mlambo (Boxer) 37:32

Female 40-49

1 Tanith Maxwell(Boxer) 35:39, 2 Ulrica Stander(FNB Multisport) 38:04, 3 Janene Carey(Boxer) 39:03

Female 50-59

1 Ansie Breytenbach(Irene) 44:22, 2 Gail Babich (Savages) 47:11, 3 Elize Cilliers 48:12

Female 60+

1 Sandra Fismer (Hilton Harriers) 46:25, 2 Blanche Moila (Savages) 49:21, 3 Sheree Kirsten (Westville) 51:24

-ends

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

TOP RUNNERS WILL BATTLE IT OUT IN THE SPAR CHALLENGE IN DURBAN ON SUNDAY

The 2016 Comrades Marathon is done and dusted and attention now turns to the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge in Durban on Sunday, June 5.

For years the Durban Challenge has taken place a week after the Comrades Marathon, and now there is an even stronger link – Charne Bosman, who won the women’s race last Sunday , is a former poster girl for the SPAR Women’s Challenge.  She was a regular winner on the Challenge Circuit in the early years of the 21st century, and even provided novice runners with advice on how to prepare for a 10km road race.

The current top runners, such as Irvette van Zyl, and the Phalula twins, Diana-Lebo and Lebogang, probably have no thoughts of running Comrades at this stage in their careers, although all the top runners have turned their attention to running standard marathons. 

There will be a star-studded field for the Durban race on Sunday.  Van Zyl and the Phalula twins will be joined by the Kalmer sisters, Rene and Christine, Mapaseka Makhanya, Nolene Conrad and Cornelia Joubert. 

In addition to trying to cross the finish line first, the top runners will also be competing for valuable SPAR Grand Prix points, which are awarded to the top runners.

Van Zyl, who is a two-times winner of the Grand Prix, having triumphed in 2010 and 2011, has a narrow lead over Lebogang Phalula after the first two races in the five race series.  Van Zyl has 40 points, after winning in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.  Phalula, the 2015 winner, has 37 points, after finishing third in Cape Town and second in Port Elizabeth, and Christine Kalmer and Nolene Conrad are in joint third position, with 29 points each.

Van Zyl, who has been unbeaten on home soil this year, said she was taking nothing for granted in the Durban race.

“In the first two races, we all had our minds on qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio in August, and most of us had run marathons,” said Van Zyl, who won in Port Elizabeth only two weeks after coming 15th in the London Marathon.

“But things have calmed down ahead of the Durban race, and I think we will be on a more equal footing.  I wasn’t able to beat the previous time in either race, so I haven’t got those valuable bonus points, but I will be going all out to win in record time on Sunday,” she said.

The six women who have won the Grand Prix have each been paired with a promising junior athlete, who will also be running on Sunday.  Makhanya’s protégé, Simonay Weitz, heads the junior section of the Grand Prix, with Lebogang Phalula’s partner, Ashleigh Simonis, hot on her heels.

Only manual entries are now available for the challenge. This can be done at the race registration, where participants can collect their race numbers, promo bags and T-Shirts at Berea Rovers, 73 Jacko Jackson Drive (off Masabalala Yengwa Avenue) on Thursday 2 June and Friday 3 June from 10am to 5pm and on Saturday 4 June from 10am to 3pm. No entries will be taken on race day. 

For more info email durban@sparwomensrace.co.za, like the Facebook page SPAR Women's 10/5km Race or follow on Twitter for up to the minute postings.

#run031

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