THERE’S still time to catch the highlights of the Durban International Film Festival which is being screened virtually this year. The festival, brought to you by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, ends tomorrow and presents a programme of nearly 140 feature films, documentaries and short films.
The documentary Threshold, by the Brazilian Coraci Ruiz, will be the closing film and will be screened tomorrow after the DIFF awards ceremony.
Head of programming Chipo Zhou said the films in competition were diverse but had a common thread.
“The DIFF cultivates indigenous talent development and grants access to audiences and aspirant film-makers particularly women, children, LGBTQI+ communities in highly conservative regions of the world.
“Ultimately, all the narratives in the competition speak to this vision and are an illustration of the challenges of overcoming adversity and adapting to an altered world ‒ one where, sadly, not everyone has fared so well. These are the kinds of stories DIFF sought this year, stories of hope, stories that show the light at the end of the tunnel, even if for now, it seems like just a flicker,” said Zhou.
The feature films in competition:
- Coming of age story,
- Granada Nights
- Psychological thriller
- My Son
- Nandi
- Pusha Pressa Phanda
- Rickshaw Girl
- Sons of the Sea
- Valentina
- Action-thriller
There are many informative and interesting documentaries in competition:
- Areum Married
- As I Want
- Downstream to Kinshasa
- Hard Livings
- I Am Here
- I, Mary
- Mein Vietnam
- Murder in Paris
- Postcard
- The Colonel’s Stray Dogs
- The Last Shelter
- The Sit-In
- Zinder
The full programme and tickets are accessible at www.durbanfilmfest.com.
Tickets for the virtual screenings are available from South Africa only and are free.
The Independent on Saturday