(Dancers
Angelique Allison and Ryan Hammond doing the Brazilian Samba representing
Brazil – to perform at the gala opening at the Playhouse on July 22. Pic by Val
Adamson)
One of the events aligned to the tenth
annual 2018 BRICS summit - an international relations conference attended by
the heads of state or heads of government of its five member states Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa – is the BRICS Film Festival coming to
the Playhouse from July 22 to 27, 2018, as part of Durban’s city-wide July
focus on film.
Although the epicentre of the 2018 BRICS
summit is in Sandton, Johannesburg, there are national events being hosted
around the country to encourage delegates to explore the magnitude and
diversity of our country.
Durban is proud host of the 2018 BRICS Film
Festival to take place in the Playhouse, which will host delegates from all
member states – mostly carefully selected leaders in the film and creative
industries. The idea of a film festival and film-themed forum came out of the
2015 BRICS summit at which an agreement was signed between the governments of
the BRICS States on co-operation in the field of culture.
The BRICS Film Festival is a companion
event to other city film themed events taking place over the mid-year holiday
season: Durban International Film Festival; Durban FilmMart; Wavescapes and the
Nature Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers Congress (NEWF).
Each BRICS member state will have a day
dedicated to showcase five of their best recent films – in whatever genre. The
films will be free and open to the public and will be in the Playhouse Drama:
Monday, July 23 - South Africa
Tuesday, July 24 – Russia
Wednesday, July 25 – India
Thursday July 26 – China
Friday, July 27 - Brazil
Two of the five films to be screened each
day will be competition entries – with the best films of the festival, chosen
by a panel from experts from each member country, and awarded at a closing
event on Friday July 27.
South Africa’s selected two competition
features will be Beyond the River
(based on the moving true story of Piers Cruickshanks and Siseko Ntondini's
journey to gold in the 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon,) and Five Fingers for Marseilles (a disgraced former hero returns to
establish a quiet life only to find a new threat to be faced in this South
African Western); as well as The Whale
Caller (set in the seaside town of Hermanus and based on a novel by Zakes
Mda, is an enchanting tale of isolation, infatuation and human connection); Comatose (which centres around two
siblings in conflict over the future of their comatose mother, testing their
family ties and posing difficult questions about euthanasia) and Skulls of my People (a deeply affecting
and important documentary about the 1904-1908 genocide of around 80% of the
population of Nama, San and Herero people in Namibia).
Of special mention, is one of China’s
entries – a premiere film made especially for the festival.
Also on Monday there is a day-long industry
forum at the Elangeni Hotel during the Durban FilmMart in collaboration with
the Independent Black Filmmakers Collective (IBFC). Themes for the BRICS Film
Forum on July 23 are opportunities and challenges of the fourth Industrial
Revolution for content creators in BRICS markets; presenting insights on creative, political,
legal, financial and institutional framework for the establishment of BRICS
audio-visual / film co-production and distribution treaty and fund; opportunities
and challenges of content creation, distribution collaborative content
development amongst BRICS filmmakers; and funding, production and distribution
of content that can travel between the five BRICS countries.
The festival opens with an invitation-only
opening gala concert in the Playhouse Opera on Sunday evening, July 22,
marrying live performance with short films from each of the BRIC member states.
A carefully presented programme allows
Durban artists to represent the member states though music, song and dance.
Compered by LeAnne Manas and Tony Kgoroge, performers include leading Shembe
group, Amazebra Indlamu and musician Mbuso Khoza representing South Africa; the
fabulous KZN Philharmonic Orchestra under baton of Christopher Chen representing
China performing Act 2 Grand Pas de deux from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker; the acclaimed Nateshwa
Dance Company and Kathak dancer Manesh Maharaj representing India; dancers
Casey Swales and Rachel Abrahams performing Russian ballet representing Russia;
dancers Angelique Allison and Ryan Hammond doing the Brazilian Samba
representing Brazil; with support from the Playhouse Dance Residency with
Smeetha Maharaj at the helm, showcasing their Bollywood and Brazilian Samba
routines. The gala evening is directed by Ralph Lawson, and produced by the
Playhouse Company, an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture.
The opening night films will honour Nelson
Mandela’s centenary. The films will be five, 5-minute short films produced by
the respective countries under the facilitation of a South African production
company, Via- Vollenhoven and Appollis Independent. The theme for the films is,
“Mandela” and the film from each country reflects the uniqueness of the
country, as well as how each member country relates to Nelson Mandela and the
impact he had through leadership, politics, humanity, culture, and unity.
As a member of BRICS, South Africa through
the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) is hosting the third BRICS Film
Festival. The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) in its capacity as the
national film funding body will implement the festival.
For more information and for the full
programme visit durbanfilmmart.co.za
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