DIFF DOCCIES

Durban International Film Festival’s documentary programme offers sharp insight.

The forthcoming Durban International Film Festival’s documentary programme provides sharp insight into a spectrum of African realities, such as the inner city conflicts and concerns dramatically addressed in the world premiere of Rehad Desai’s The Battle for Johannesburg, and inside stories from Cape Town informal settlements in When The Mountain Meets Its Shadow .

South Africa’s turbulent history becomes a lot clearer through Connie Field’s articulate exposition of how the sports boycott became a turning point for political change in Have You Heard From Johannesburg: Fairplay, while The Cradock Four covers the abduction and killing of activists during the 70’s and early 80’s. Savo Tufegdzic’s Sons Of The Sand – The Strini Moodley interview is a riveting testament to the co-founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, while RFK In The Land Of Apartheid – A Ripple Of Hope tells of Robert Kennedy’s historic visit to South Africa during the oppressive 1960s.

Surfing Soweto follows a group of Soweto teenagers who surf moving trains; the Foster brothers’ My Hunter’s Heart journeys with the Khomani San as they try to recapture some of the knowledge and skills of their ancestors. Other offerings include miracles of the mind in Renée Scheltema’s Something Unknown Is Doing We Don’t Know What; Steve Kwena Mokwena’s aesthetic meditation on postcolonial Africa in Driving With Fanon; Mzimasi Gova’s reflection on golf development in black townships in The Fairway; Josh Sternlicht’s Fool In A Bubble, which is a candid exploration into the journey and conflicts of cult Durban musician/poet, Syd Kitchen; and Letters From Teddy, Terry Westby-Nunn’s poignant story set against the backdrop of British colonial society in Aden in the 1950s.

Mugabe and the White African is an extraordinary tale of defiance, hope and perseverance in the face of injustice and brutality in Zimbabwe. The reality of everyday life in the Democratic Republic of Congo is laid bare in a quartet of superb short documentaries entitled Congo in Four Acts and in the beguiling story of the creation of the Kinshasa Symphony. Koundi and the National Thursday is an inside look at life in a village community in the forests of Cameroon. Coming out of the Nkuta introduces viwers to brave Cameroonians who struggle for a sense of value and legitimacy for gay people within their communities;

In the troubled Middle East, DIFF explores the tenacity of daily existence amidst sustained destruction in Aisheen – Still Alive In Gaza, while Tehran Without Permission, shot entirely on a cellphone, captures the character of the city in the run-up to the controversial elections of last year. The Shock Doctrine is Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross’s cinematic interpretation of Naomi Klein’s bestseller and outlines the rise of “disaster capitalism”.

Amusing, compelling and disturbing, The Game of Death follows contestants in a fake game show which is really a controversial experiment that raises a warning against blindly following authority and about the manipulative power of television itself. Featuring Sara Ziff and other noted photographers, designers and models, the raw and intimate Picture Me: A Model’s Diary lifts the veil on the often exploitative world of high fashion modelling, The hilarious and poignant Winnebago Man reveals the story of Jack Rebney (a.k.a. “the angriest man in the world”), who turns out to be more savvy, deep, weird, and cool than anyone could have imagined.

Additionally, a number of short documentary packages offer a variety of revealing insights into Ugandan and Nigerian society, and of course South Africa.

Principal screening venues of the festival are the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre; Nu Metro Cinecentre - Suncoast; Ster Kinekor Junction – Musgrave; Cinema Nouveau - Gateway; Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre in KwaMashu; and The Royal Hotel, with further screenings in township areas where cinemas are non-existent.

Programme booklets with the full screening schedule and synopses of all the films are available free at cinemas, Computicket, and other outlets. Call 031 2602506 or 031 2601650 for further details.

The Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre For Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) with support by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (principal funder), National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism, HIVOS, City Of Durban, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, Industrial Development Corporation, Commonwealth Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture, and a range of other valued partners.

For full festival information, click on the Centre for Creative Arts advert which will take you to the Durban International Film Festival site.