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Saturday, April 2, 2016

AMY FOR 2016 EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL



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

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

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

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

Other decorated offerings on the European Film Festival menu are the dramas Macondo (Austria), Body (Poland), Montanha (Portugal), Flowers (Spain), Something Must Break (Sweden) and Labyrinth of Lies (Germany). Also gracing the silver screen during the festival are the musical comedy Belgian Rhapsody (Belgium), biopic Chocolat (France) and documentaries Fire at Sea (Italy) and A Family Affair (the Netherlands).

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

The European Film Festival screenings will take place in Durban at Cinema Nouveau Gateway and bookings open on April 15, 2016, with tickets priced at R55. Secure a seat by visiting www.cinemanouveau.co.za or www.sterkinekor.mobi, or call 0861 668 437. Or join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook: #EuroFilmFestSA.

More information and festival trailer: www.eurofilmfest.co.za