The 32nd Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) kicks off on July 21 with the world premiere of the South African film Otelo Burning, directed by Sara Blecher. Set during the last days of apartheid, the Durban-shot film tells the story of a group of South African township youngsters who discover surfing as an empowering escape from the political violence of the times. There is drama, romance, rivalry, and tragedy in this convincing fulfilment of local filmmaking potential.Between the 21st and 31st of July, the festival will be crammed with great films from around the world, including Kenya’s best export The First Grader.
Skoonheid, Oliver Hermanus’s groundbreaking film that caused a stir at the recent Cannes Film Festival, will have its first South African screening at the festival.DIFF will also present the world premieres of Charlie Vundla’s noir film How To Steal 2 Million, John Barker’s thrilling heist flick 31 Million Reasons, Faith Isiakpere’s crime drama The Algiers Murders, Eldorado by new talents Shaldon Ferris and Lorreal Ferris, the hilarious comedy Taka Takata by Damir Radonic, and The Dream by Zuko Nodada. Making their African premieres are Mukunda Michael Dewil’s psychological thriller Retribution and Paula van der Oest’s moving film about Ingrid Jonker, Black Butterflies.
African cinema will also be well-represented by Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s striking and unique Viva Riva!, Nigerian director Andrew Donsunmu’s visually beautiful Restless City, Justin Chadwick’s uplifting Kenya-set film The First Grader, and Ebrahim El Batout’s Hawi which first appeared in Durban as a project at the inaugural Durban FilmMart in 2010.
DIFF will focus on two national cinemas this year namely India and Canada. Six films from the great Indian master Satyajit Ray will be presented, alongside daring new works by talented new Indian filmmakers.Leena Manimekelai will present the World Premiere of her film The Dead Sea and other Indian films include Onir’s I Am, Sanjoy Nag’s Memories In March, Kaushik Mukherjee’s Bengali hip hop film Asshole, and Aamir Bashir’s Autumn.
In a very strong year for Canadian cinema, DIFF will present Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-nominated Incendies, the gritty drama Jo For Jonathan, Ed Gass-Donnelly’s Small Town Murder Songs, Xavier Dolan’s ravishing Heartbeats, and the quirky Familiar Ground by Stephane Lafleur. Canadian documentaries include Barry Steven’s Prosecutor, a fascinating look at the International Criminal Court, and Shannon Walsh’s St. Henri, The 26th Of August.
Local stories in the powerful documentary line-up include World premieres such as Ryley Grunewald’s The Dawn of a New Day where healing is shown as being more than skin deep, Mickey Dube’s Sobukwe, A Great Soul about one of this country’s most influential, but unsung, heroes, the Keith Jones/Deon Maas music revolution collaboration Punk In Africa, and the Dara Kell/Chris Nizza collaboration Dear Mandela about innovative leadership emerging in informal settlements. Not to be missed, DIFF will present the African premiere of Mama Africa, the inspirational film about Miriam Makeba.
With the COP conference on climate change taking place in Durban later in the year, an exceptional range of environmental films is included in this year’s Eco-Lens focus.
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