The programme at this year’s Durban International Film Festival features a staggering total of ninety-two films from the following fifty countries across several continents: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, India, Iran, Kenya, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Zambia.
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There are twenty-nine features including several that have won international awards at celebrated international festivals including Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto and Venice. A remastered version of the classic City of God celebrating the film’s 21st anniversary is included alongside Korean director Hur Jin-ho’s, A Normal Family and Zambian-Welsh director Rungano Nyoni, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.
The sixteen documentaries are from well-known and emerging directors from South Africa and abroad. They include films about football, COPA 71; Taiwan’s first female president, Invisible Nation, and Kenya’s Laikipia region, The Battle for Laikipia.
The short films which include Golara Khalilinejad’s, Iran Is a Woman’s Name; Mohamad Elhadidi’s, Bandido, and Riley Blakeway’s, A Thousand Odd Days, total twenty-six in number and are also representative of almost every corner of the globe.
The longest-running film festival in South Africa and Southern Africa’s premiere festival, DIFF will this year present 14 World Premieres, 5 International Premieres, 36 African Premieres, and 37 South African Premieres.
Students from nineteen different institutions are represented by the twenty-one student films. Five South African tertiary institutions; AFDA, Film School Africa, The Animation School, The University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Other schools are from Europe -Fachhochschule St. Pölten (Austria), FAMU (Czech Republic), Filmuniversity Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF (Germany), University of Television and Film Munich (Germany), BAU – College of Arts & Design Barcelona (Spain); the United States- Chapman University, The University of Texas at Austin, New York University and School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Asia- Korea University of Arts (South Korea) and Maltepe University (Turkey); the global South – Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, A.C. (Mexico) and Universidade Estadual de Goiás – UEG (Brazil) and lastly , Egypt, – Jesuit Cairo Film School.
Film Students were eligible for free passes to attend festival screenings and are encouraged to attend the exciting and inspirational isiPhethu programme which includes an opportunity to meet stakeholders each after – these include Durban Film Office (DFO), the KZN Tourism and Film Authority, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), the Film and Publication Board (FPB), and the SABC.
Remarkably 73% of the programme is women-led, where either the director, writer, or producer is a female. As part of its core mandate, to empower women, the Centre for Creative Arts places a strong emphasis on job opportunities for Black female graduates who are not yet employed, ensuring that not only the films but the festival itself has a strong women-focused agenda.
While the number of films on offer is impressive and the vast range of tertiary institutions is admirable, the Centre for the Creative Arts is as proud of the 880 job opportunities that are created through the five different festivals it curates and manages – Artfluence, DIFF, JOMBA, Poetry Africa and Time of The Writer – all major events on the South African cultural calendar and in addition to their creative value they contribute to the 3% of GDP which cultural & creative activities contribute to South Africa. They also create and nurture some of the 90 000 jobs the sector creates. The cultural economy creates a wide variety of jobs and in addition to the direct positions filled the services industry sector benefits from contracts to produce branding collateral, and provide catering, hotel, and vehicle bookings. Significant efforts are made to create job opportunities for emerging professionals and new graduates with many young students being introduced to their first formal working opportunity through one of the festivals.
The festival would not be possible without the support of our many generous funders and reliable programme partners – KZN Tourism and Film Authority, National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), NIHSS DSAC, BASA, Durban FilmMart Institute, French Institute in South African, Alliance Francaise, Mostra de Cinemas Africanos Brazil African Film Festival, Wavescape, Avalon Group, Nu Metro, Ster Kinekor, The Bioscope, The Labia, CAP Studios, Denis Hurley, K-CAP, Luthuli Museum, Wushwini Pan African Arts Centre, Spiga, Video Store Podcast, SABC, Gravel Road, Film and Publication Board (FPB), Durban Film Office, Stained Glass, Bridge, and Sheer Publishing Africa. We are grateful for their ongoing support and their faith in our work.
