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 |
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.
#DIFF2019
Images courtesy DIFF.
This
edition by Fred Felton | Twitter @fredfelton
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