Films for everyone
The Durban Film Festival starts July 16 and runs until July 26.
Film lovers get your popcorn ready for over 200 screenings in nine venues in the 36th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) running from July 16 to 26.
Dolphin Coast residents can look forward to four films being shown at the Albert Luthuli Museum in Groutville this year and the best part is that there is no entry fee.
The films are Parable of Railway Street, Ladygrey, Breath – Umphefumlo and the highly anticipated Ayanda.
This year’s opening night film will be the African premiere of Ayanda, the second fiction feature film from South African filmmaker Sara Blecher, who opened the festival in 2011 with Otelo Burning.
Ayanda tells the story of a single-minded 21-year-old Afro-hipster Ayanda (Fulu Mugovhani), who does everything in her power to hold onto her father’s legacy, when his prized auto repair garage is in financial trouble and in danger of being sold.
Then there’s Breathe – Umphefumlo, the Isango Ensemble’s contemporary adaptation of Puccini’s opera La Boheme.
Ladygrey takes us back in time and is set ten years after Apartheid at the foot of the Drakensberg, where a mixed community live in the trauma of unresolved killings.
The community remain silent about the killings, until a young woman arrives in town and shatters the fragile balance.
Parable of Railway Street tells the story of friends Drama and Nqubeko, who throw rocks at an exposed switch on an electricity pole. Later, they hear that a person died from tampering with that very pole, which leaves the friends riddled with guilt and conflict.
Besides the four films in KwaDukuza, you can choose from 74 feature films, 50 documentaries, 74 short films and 23 surf films.
For those aspiring film makers and enthusiasts, workshops and seminar programmes will be offered during DIFF, providing the opportunity to learn from international industry experts
Tickets are available at the various venues and prices range from R20 to R40, except at Luthuli Museum, Ekhaya, Elangeni Hotel, the Denis Hurley Centre, Sizakala Centre in Clermont, the Durban Music School and Bay of Plenty lawns, where entry is free.
Programme booklets are available at screening venues and other public information outlets.
Check out www.durbanfilmfest.co.za or call 031-2602506 or 031-2601816 for more information.
