DIFF GEARS UP FOR THE 44TH EDITION

 

The 44th edition of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) has received an impressive number of 3,316 films from 137 countries after submissions closed on February 28. Festival Manager, Andrea Voges, will be supported by 15 programmers with putting together a programme of features, documentaries, short and student films.

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, will run from July 20 to 30, 2023. The festival is South Africa's longest-running film festival. It is widely regarded as one of the leading film festivals on the African continent and a vital event on the international film calendar. The festival will present live screening at the CineCentre in the Suncoast complex, in collaboration with Avalon Group, and supported by the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission and the National Film & Video Foundation, amongst several other partners. Additional venues will be announced closer to the dates of the festival.

Programming team

(Right: Andrea Voges)

Festival Manager Andrea Voges has honed her skills as an Arts and Cultural Manager working in strategic positions both nationally and internationally. 

After working at the Joburg Film Festival, Red Sea International Film Festival, Realness Institute, Ucuru Media, National Arts Council of South Africa and the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa as a Project Coordinator for the South African-United Kingdom Seasons - an intergovernmental initiative to promote arts and culture between these two nations - she returned to the Durban International Film Festival where she had previously played a vital role in the festival’s success during 2010 to 2014 .

“The 2023 DIFF programme will showcase the works of filmmakers who place their imaginations, voices, creativity and lenses at the centre of creating films that inspire, confront, challenge and provoke audiences. The programming team will look out for innovative storytelling that will connect storytellers with audiences.” says Festival Manager, Andrea Voges. 

The shorts programming team comprises of the founder of Alfreda's Cinema, Melissa Lyde (USA), curator, filmmaker and historian Greta Morton (Australia), filmmaker, visual artist, and film festival programmer Yanyu Dong (China) and the curator, cultural programmer and producer Mitchell Harper (South Africa).

The documentary programmers are film director and curator Ygor Gama (Argentina/Brazil), line producer and programme coordinator Egar Ntanyi (Nigeria) and film director, producer and director of photography Inadelso Cossa (Mozambique).

Writer and director Indranil Banerjee (India), curator, producer, director and broadcaster Andrea Cals (Brazil), seasoned festival programmer and distributor Safa Morad (Egypt) and film critic, programmer and journalist Tara Karajicoa (Serbia), will make up the programming team for the features category.

The DIFF also includes the second edition of the Isiphethu Student Film Festival which is headed by Sakhile Gumede. He is supported by a programming team consisting of writer and director Madoda Ncayiyana (South Africa), cultural producer and editor Ashok Vish (India) and festival manager and programmer Ibee Ndaw (Gambia/France). Gumede will also mentor Emerging Arts Managers Aphiwokule Moyo and Nomthandanzo Nyathi whose internships are funded by a Department of Sport, Arts & Culture grant administered by the National Arts Council.

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