Films featured at the Oscars and leading global film festivals such as Berlinale, Cannes, and Venice will be part of the French focus at the 45th Durban International Film Festival. The programme will include the documentaries, Dahomey, Coconut Head Generation, and Four Daughters made by filmmakers who hail from Paris, Kinshasa, and Tunisia. The project is supported by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Institute, with IFAS and Alliance française in Durban.
“France is dedicated to promoting Francophone cinema on the global stage as a means of cultural exchange, highlighting the power of storytelling to connect and spark meaningful conversations. The French Focus forms part of a larger project which includes a scouting delegation of French experts coming to Durban and Cape Town, as well as support for the incubation of filmmakers through the Jumpstart programme at Durban Film Mart” says David Martinon, Ambassador of France to South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi.
In her film Dahomey, French-Senegalese filmmaker, Mati Diop, delves into the history of the Kingdom of Dahomey, now Benin, as she documents the return of plundered artefacts to their place of origin. The film was an international co-production between France, Senegal, and Benin. This insightful and meditative portrait of the restoration of African treasures was shown in the main competition at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear.