KZNSA CINEMA THURSDAY

Once again the KZNSA, in conjunction with the National Lottery Distribution Fund, is hosting the Durban Film Society and their popular Cinema Thursday evenings. Every first and third Thursday of the month, the KZNSA Gallery lawn transforms into a picnic theatre with a selection of international art-house, classic, foreign, experimental and generally interesting films. Bring blankets, snacks and something to drink, and relive the era of the drive-in as the screen flickers under the starry sky. If the temperamental Durban weather threatens to rain on our parade, the screening will move inside to the tiered café seating.

The programme offers an eclectic mix of memorable films from across space and time for those who have a taste for the alternative. Film curator Sarah Dawson chooses films according to themes. This season, the themes are An Appetite for The Dark, Dogme 95, and Girlhood and the Middle East.

Coming up on April 7 is Festen (1998) or The Celebration, as it is known in English. A Danish film by director Thomas Vinterberg, it is the first to be created under Dogme 95 rules. Vinterberg was inspired to write it with Mogens Rukov, based on a hoax broadcast by a Danish radio station.

Family secrets explode like shrapnel when a cruel, despotic patriarch, who has never atoned for the damage he inflicted on his children's psyches, gathers the clan to celebrate his 60th birthday, and the bitter past rises up to bite Papa from behind. Tough, challenging and bitterly funny, The Celebration at first resembles a Chekhov play or an Ingmar Bergman psychodrama, with a dash of antic farce.

The goal of Cinema Thursday Picnic Screenings is to contribute to the development of a culture of film appreciation and filmmaking in Durban. The screenings start at 18h30 and entrance is free.

Further information from Sarah Dawson on 083 777 1130 or email: or sarahandmiffy@gmail.com