Call for Film Projects for Durban FilmMart 2020

Project submissions for the 11th Durban FilmMart (DFM), Africa’s leading film industry co-production market is now open and close on 31 January 2020.

A Durban FilmMart Workshop

 The 11th DFM is scheduled to take place from 17 to 20 July 2020, during the 41st Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) in Durban, South Africa.

A joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO), the eThekwini Municipality’s industry development unit and the DIFF, the DFM aims to support and stimulate the growth of the African film industry and develop connections between African filmmakers and the world. The project-in-development section of the DFM offers opportunities for film-makers to pitch to industry experts with the view to advancing their ideas closer to production.

The 2020 edition of DFM over four days will include pitching sessions for projects in development, workshops, panel discussions and seminars with industry experts and the ever-popular networking sessions enabling film-makers to connect and re-connect with an array of significant representatives from the industry both locally and internationally.

“We are very excited about the 11th edition of the Durban FilmMart,” says Head of the Ethekwini Municipality’s Durban Film Office Toni Monty. “The importance of the market to film-makers continues to make an impact. The 10th edition attracted influential individuals and organisations from across the globe. We also witnessed significant growth in our delegate numbers, and we able to expand the programme with a number of new offerings including the important Locations Africa aimed at attracting more filming on the continent, a larger isiPhethu Hub for emerging filmmakers within the DIFF as well as the Engage

@DFM which was a curated think tank of conversations and panels on the future perspectives of the African film.”

Last year the market drew a record number of over 1000 delegates, including film-makers, distributors, broadcasters, agents, financiers and investors from around the world.

The selection panel will choose up to ten documentaries and ten fiction feature length film projects from the submissions. Selected projects will be announced in early May 2020, and will participate in a programme of mentorship and project packaging before presenting their projects to potential investors at the Durban FilmMart in July 2020.

Full length feature and documentary film projects with Africans in the major creative roles (writers, directors and producers) that are looking for co-producers, financiers, sales agents and funders, are invited to submit.

For more about the Durban FilmMart 2020, project submission criteria and how to submit a project, visit www.durbanfilmmart.com.

For further enquires contact: info@durbanfilmmart.com or call +27 31 311 4243.

Deadline to submit: 31 January 2020

This edition by Fred Felton | Twitter @fredfelton

Interview with Film Director Angus Gibson

Film Director Angus Gibson was in Durban recently for the Durban International Festival to promote the movie ‘Back of the Moon’. 

Film Director Angus Gibson

He is also one of the people behind hit shows such as ‘Yizo Yizo’ and ‘Isibaya’.

I asked him some questions about filmmaking. This is what he had to say:

What does a director do?

A director interprets a script, overseeing the performances, the camerawork, the sound, the edit of the film – constantly making choices which guide the spirit and the aesthetic of the film. A director is a leader on the film set and a storyteller.

Tell us about 'Back of the Moon'?

Back of the Moon takes place in 1958 in Sophiatown, the night before the residents of one of the streets will be forcibly removed and taken to Meadowlands way out of the city. The central character Max aka Badman is an intellectual and might have been a liberation leader, but instead he has become the leader of a gang and he is disappointed in himself. On this night that he has decided that he will fight an impossible fight against being removed from his house – Eve Msomi, a Miriam Makeba kind of figure that he has loved from afar, lands in his orbit and they spend magical hours together. It is the beginning of a beautiful relationship, but his gang has turned against him.

What advice do you have for young directors?

Be original. Find a way to show your talent – be it in writing, in music videos or short films – even if you do not have access to high end equipment, use your cell phone. Do research in the creation of the characters and the world you are describing. Your

own life experience is a useful resource. Above all you need to hustle and not give up. There are many people wanting to get the opportunity to direct and if you get the opportunity, give it your all.

Advice on how to get distribution deals?

I am no expert in this field but film markets and festivals are good places in which to get deals, before and after production. Again one needs to hustle to get the proposal or the finished film seen by the right people.

Why do you think 'Yizo Yizo' blew up like it did and became so successful?

At the time that it was made there had been no accurate representation of a township culture. In Yizo Yizo urban black South Africans felt that they recognized themselves on screen for the first time. Again it was based on a whole year of research in the township schools. There were characters and situations that people related to and fell in love with.

Advice for Producers pitching shows to TV networks?

At the moment TV networks seem to be in search of a hook right up front that will attract and draw an audience in. You need to be very aware of the audience that you are speaking to. You need to create a set of characters and describe a world that they will

relate to and will sustain strong drama. Again if you have a brave broadcaster, original ideas feel key. At the time that we pitched Isibaya, a rural, traditional world had not been depicted on screen for a long time. It felt fresh and different.

The film 'Back of the Moon' won the Best South African Feature Film award at the 40^th Durban International Film Festival.

Back of the Moon opens at cinemas countrywide on Friday, 6^th September 2019.

Interview by Fred Felton | Twitter @fredfelton

All you need to know for DIFF 2019

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) presented by the Centre for Creative Arts, Universitty of KwaZulu-Nata has launched its programme for its 40th

edition which takes place from 18 to 28 July 2019 at various venues around Durban, South Africa.

Knuckle City

The DIFF, together with the 10th Durban FilmMart (DFM), the industry development programme in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality’s Durban Film

Office, bring a combined 50 years of film to film-lovers and its hard-working creative industry.

The opening film of the festival is by acclaimed South African director Jahmil X. T. Qubeka’s. Knuckle City  is a riveting exploration of the psychology of a fighter from

the Mdantsane township of South Africa. Produced and edited by award-winning Layla Swart of Yellowbone Entertainment, together with Mzansi Magic.

“We are very excited to be opening our 40th edition with this gritty raw film by Jahmil” says Chipo Zhou, Festival Manager. “This is a film which we believe

will do very well as a cinema release, with boxing as the means to tell a the story, but its muti-layered narrative will resonate much deeper with audiences than what it appears at first. ”

In Qubeka’s words “It is my intention to capture the essence of life in Mdantsane and the restless pursuit of being a champion within a society that often dictates you are a failure. I am determined with this film to give audiences a glimpse into a world rarely seen, and a deeper understanding of the multi-faceted individuals inhabiting our land.”

The Jury

 The DIFF programme includes 150 films from around the globe, comprising 74 feature films, 25 documentaries and 90 shorts; a community outreach programme, the Wavescapes Surf Film festival with 19 films focussed on surfing and water culture, the Isiphethu Hub a free industry programme for entry-level and emerging filmmakers, and the DFM for intermediate and professional filmmakers which includes the Talents Durban in partnership with the Berlin International Film Festival, a one-day Durban Does Docs documentary conference, a free Creative Corner which offers insights into costumes, make-up and set design, a finance forum for pre-selected film projects to pitch to potential investors and the like, and a full programme of master classes, workshops and seminars.

This year the inaugural Locations Africa Expo and Conference will happen as part of Durban FilmMart. It aims to highlight filming locations in Durban and Africa.

Kasala

Feature films that are in competition this year include a meta-cinema work by director South African directed Roger Young, Love Runs Out, Angus Gibson’s

Back of the Moon (South Africa) set in Sophiatown in 1958, Cronofobia (Switzerland) directed by Francesco Rizzi a psychological drama about suspended

identity; a Brazilian drama Divine Love (Divino Amor) directed by Gabriel Mascaro tells the story registry office clerk who uses her position at the births,

deaths and marriages department to try to dissuade couples from getting a divorce.

Everything must fall

Riccardo Salvetti’s Rwanda: The Untold Story, (Italy) offers a new take

on the Rwandan genocide, through the first person experience, using live dramatic performance, intertwined with filmic reality; Tchaiko Omawale’s Solace

(USA) is a moving and artful portrait of a smart, driven, and self- destructive teenage orphan struggling to find her place; Vai (New Zealand) by director

Marina Alofagia McCartney is a portmanteau feature film by 9 female Pacific filmmakers. Chinese auteur, Zhang Wei’s The Rib is about the strained

relationship between a young man wanting a sex change operation, and his Christian father; Nigerian film Mokalik directed by Kunle Afolayan follows an

11-year-old boy from the middle-class suburbs who spends the day as a lowly apprentice at a mechanic workshop in order to view life from the other side

of the tracks.

Free Our Bodies

Some of the documentaries in competition include South Africa director Nicole Schafer’s Buddha in Africa, which recently opened the Encounters Film

Festival, Anbessa (Italy/USA) directed by Mo Scarpelli, a coming-of-age story that captures a boy taking on modernization, Maya Newell’s, In My Blood it

Runs (Australia), about an Aboriginal boy whose traditional skills are of no value within the modern education system. Fatma Riahi’s A Haunted Past (Qatar) is a personal portrait of a broken Tunisian-Bosnian family as ex-prisoner and ex-jihadist. Hamada (Sweden) by director Eloy Domínguez Serén, is a humorous, bittersweet portrait of three uncompromising twentysomethings cut off from the world in a refugee camp; Edward Watts and Waad al-Kateab’s For Sama (UK/USA/Syria) takes an intimate look at one young woman's struggles with love, war and motherhood. Mother I am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You by Lesotho filmmaker Mosese Lemohang Jeremiah, is an extended, poetic letter to the protagonist’s mother and motherland. Sara de Gouveia, The Sounds of Masks (SA/Portugal) follows a compelling storyteller and legendary Mozambiquan masked dancer. My Friend, Fela (Brazil) directed by Joel Zito Araujo, explores the life of legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. A Girl in Return (Denmark) directed by Katrine W.Kjaer, an intimate tale about what happens when an adopted teenage girl decides to reclaim her lost identity.

Noah Wise

“We are pleased to announce that once again, the winner in the documentary competition will automatically qualify for consideration for nomination for

an Academy Award,” says Zhou.

Spokie Gaan Huis Toe

Venues this year include Suncoast Cine Centre, Musgrave Ster Kinekor, Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, Denis Hurley Centre, EKhaya Multi-Arts Centre, Max’s

Lifestyle, Ohlange Museum, Tate’s Kasi Grill, Artizen Lounge, KZNSA, Bay of Plenty Lawns (Wavescapes Opening), Ushaka Marine World, Luthuli Museum, K-cap and

Garden Court.

Back of the Moon

The full programme will go online at the end of June 2019.

For more info go to ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za/ or follow on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

To register for Durban FilmMart visit www.durbanfilmmart.co.za

#DIFF2019

Images courtesy DIFF. 

This edition by Fred Felton | Twitter @fredfelton

All you need to know for the Durban International Film Festival 2018

The Durban International Film Festival 2018 opens soon and here are just some of the highlights you can look forward to:

Opening the festival is the horror film ‘The Tokoloshe’ directed by South African director Jerome Pikwane.

The LGBTI love-story ‘Rafiki’ directed by Kenyan Wanuri Kahiu, will close the festival.

‘We wanted to book-end DIFF with films that tell stories about women, their strength, their resilience, said DIFF Manager Chipo Zhou.

Among the highlights include:

The Tale

Look out for Darrel Roodt’s horror ‘Siembamba’ and many more.

Look out for the industry campaign #ThatsNotOk from SWIFT (Sisters Working in Film and Television), the SA-based non-profit that works to protect and advance the causes of women in the industry.

There will also be free community screenings at Solomon Mahlangu Hall (New Germany/Clermont), KwaMashu Fan Park, Umlazi W Section Library and The Workshop Amphitheatre.

Other screenings will take place at Community ZA (formerly Artspace Gallery in Umgeni) and KZNSA Gallery, Musgrave Ster Kinekor, Suncoast Cine Centre and Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.

‘Heavy Water: The Life and Times of Nathan Fletcher’ will open Wavescape at the Bay of Plenty outdoor screening on 22 July.

The free Wavescape ocean-focused festival will be on at Ushaka Marine World from Monday 23 July to Friday 27 July at Arena 5, Village Walk.

Be sure not to miss ‘Bethany Hamilton: Unstopabble’

DIFF opens at The Playhouse on July 19 and closes July 29. The closing film will be screened on July 28 after the competition awards.

Look out for loads of networking and workshops as well as The Durban FilmMart happens alongside DIFF.

For more info visit: www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

This edition by Fred Felton | Twitter @fredfelton 

Call for Submissions - Visual Campaign for DIFF 2018

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is hosting its 39th edition under the theme “Evolution: No Filmmaker Left Behind”.

The DIFF team is looking at creative ways to represent the festival and expand our reach to attract

more attention from the public, media and global film community.

Designers and agencies are invited to pitch for the DIFF 2018 campaign. Pitches should include the

following:

A concept rationale of the visual campaign presented including reference.

A near to complete poster design artwork in your own style.

Anything goes (illustrated/photography/hand rendered/vector etc.)

Present an execution plan that shows possible roll out to:

A1 Poster and A5, A6 publications

30 second moving video/animation promo (concept and treatment only)

Landscape website banner

Tshirt design

Campaign guidelines:

The target market is very broad, so the campaign should be something that speaks clearly across cultures, maintaining a local edge while speaking to an International audience in a visual language that is understood by all.

You should review and react to international counterparts. Find out what they are doing right and

wrong. Examples include Toronto, Cannes, Tribeca, Dubai and Berlinale.

They are looking for something completely new. Check out the festival archive of posters, and

what has come before, and how that legacy can be reinterpreted for today’s audiences.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Please submit your design in a PDF file (less than 3mb) to mthembug@ukzn.ac.za or diff@ukzn.ac.za

along with a short written rationale to explain your design. All entries must have the subject line DIFF

2018 Campaign Submission

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 15 FEBRUARY 2018

SELECTION:

The selected campaign designer will be paid R10 000 for the use of the campaign concept and the

handover of the final poster artwork.

A further R15 000 will be paid for the rollout of finished artwork for associated elements which

include:

TShirt design (front graphic and layout of logos and funders text)

Adaptation of A1 poster to A6 programme and A5 catalogue

Adaptation of artwork for pull up banners (various specs)

Web banners (various specs)

Creative direction of the 30second video/animated promo. Depending on the medium chosen,

this will inform the means in which it is produced, be it animation or live action. The costs of

production of this video will be covered separately, but we are looking for an idea that is simple

and cost effective.

www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

Filmmaking Tips by Todd Brown

The Durban FilmMart has some amazing workshops on the go.  I sat in on one of the workshops with filmmaker Todd Brown from XYZ Films. 

He shared some advice for aspiring filmmakers on how to build their brand and audience.  Here are some of his tips:

‘If you’re not making something you are not a filmmaker’

‘Go out and make something’

‘Be strategic and produce quality stuff’

‘If you want a festival to possibly select your short film for screening the short film should be around 8 – 12min’

‘Put your short films online, short films online should be around 6min or a bit more’

The Durban FilmMart has some more amazing workshops and panel discussions for filmmakers and is on till Monday 20 June 2016.

For more info visit www.durbanfilmmart.co.za

This edition by Fred Felton

Twitter @fredfelton