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Reunion with Franco

Reunion with Franco

Franco Human, Dean of the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA) Durban,  recently returned from the Reunion Islands after attending the annual Festival International du Film d' Afrique et des Iles (FIFAI) in October as a guest of honour representing  AFDA.

The FIFAI began in 2003 with an aim to promote auteur cinema and showcase film makers from the Caribbean, Africa and the Indian Ocean. Other guests included Joel Zito Araujo, a Brazilian filmmaker and David Constantine, a film director from Mauritius. Mohamed Said Ouma, the artistic director of the festival said “Reunion has a special interest in the South African film industry because it appears to be reaching maturity.” South Africa has created a name for itself at the festival. A South African film won in the first FIFAI and this year a film titled Nelson Mandela, the myth and me by Khalo Matabane  which won the Best SA Documentary Film at the Durban International Film Festival, was selected for this year’s festival. Ouma said “it was an honour to have Franco and Vincent Moloi, the South African director and screenwriter for television and film at the festival”.  

Le Port is one of Durban’s thirteen sister cities. These two cities have been linked by active projects since 2005. “My main objective was to establish relations with film and art schools in Reunion to detect possible connections and perhaps work on an exchange and/or reciprocating programme.” said Franco. “This would be a great start to getting co-productions in place between schools and the industry, as they are a part of France and therefore fall under our co-production treaty with them.  Developing students through a reciprocation programme will lay the foundations needed for co-productions in the future. ”

Amongst people Franco met was the mayor of Le Port Jean–Yves Langenier, who is  suppoprtive of developing the creative industries in his city. Additionally, he met with École Supérieure d'Art de la Réunion (ESA) and The Institute of Indian Ocean Image (ILOI). ESA is the only French speaking higher education art institution in the Indian Ocean region, which also provides a platform for meetings, exchanges, exhibitions, conferences and seminars and is aptly described as a “laboratory of cultures for culture”.  ILOI is a vocational training school in Reunion specialized in the fields of image and new media. It has international networks that include reputable animation schools and universities across France, China, Africa and Europe. “ILOI and ESA are two ongoing relationships I hope to build on next year .” said Franco.  The visit and relationships formed, I am sure will add huge  value going forward to our school and the students and naturally by extension, into the future co-productions with Le Reunion.  Reunion is not far away from Durban and we look forward to the potential that could be realised through developing relationships with them.”  

Franco said that he was pleasantly surprised by the film industry in Reunion. “Of course, it helps that there is one to start with and it seems to be a very expressive industry more than a commercial one.  They create beautiful images judging by the few films I was able to see.”

“Establishing and deepening relationships with other countries may yield beneficial outcomes for Durban, particularly its film industry.” said Franco.

The AFDA Durban Campus, headed by Human, has been open for 2 years and is making a significant mark on the local film industry through developing young film industry entrepeneurs who are now being seconded to work on films during their spare time and vacs.

For more information go to www.afda.co.za.

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Durban International Film Festival calls for entries for 2015

            Durban International Film Festival calls for entries for 2015

Durban, South Africa: The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) will celebrate its 36th edition from 16 to 26 July 2015. Presenting over 250 screenings of cutting-edge cinema from around the world, with a special focus on films from South Africa and Africa, the festival exhibits films in a diversity of venues around the city. DIFF is the premiere platform for the launch of African films and a key gateway to the African film industry. The festival also includes a local and international awards component.

Only films completed in 2014 and 2015 will be considered, and there is no charge for entry. Submissions will be accepted with either a DVD SCREENER or an ONLINE SCREENER. All submissions must be entered via the DIFF Visitor Page online at vp.eventival.eu/cca. In order to submit a film, an account needs to be created if this has not already been done in previous years. The deadline for all entries (short films, documentaries and feature fiction films), including delivery of screeners, is 20 March 2015.

The extensive seminar and workshop programme featuring local and international filmmakers and industry professionals will include the 8th Talents Durban programme (17 to 21 July), in cooperation with Berlinale Talents, and the 6th Durban FilmMart (17 to 20 July), in partnership with the Durban Film Office, as well as various other streams of programming.

Specific streams of programming for 2015 will include a focus on climate change, as well as films that explore our relationship to the earth’s changing ecology. “We are very excited about receiving a wealth of challenging and high quality films from around the world,” says festival manager Peter Machen. “We also welcome engagement with current and potential partners who support the development of cinema in Africa and beyond. Such collaboration is a major part of the festival and helps to provide filmmakers and the public with a programme of brilliant films and a solid development programme.”

For more information check out the festival Submission FAQs or visit: www.durbanfilmfest.co.za or email diff@ukzn.ac.za. 

Follow the festival on Twitter (@DIFFest) and on Facebook.

The festival is hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal and is supported by the National Film and Video Foundation, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, the City of Durban and other valued funders and partners. 

AFDA brings top international technology to Durban

AFDA brings top international technology to Durban 

There’s great excitement brewing in Durban’s film and television industry over new developments at AFDA, the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance in Durban. The school continually strives to keep up to date with the local film industry and at the cutting edge of film-making, and their latest advances are a testament to their efforts.

AFDA Cinematography students now have access to the ARRI Alexa Classic, the film industry’s leading name in digital cameras. ARRI film and digital cameras are used by the top directors and producers in the international industry. The films 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, which won three and seven Academy Awards respectively, were both filmed on this state of the art camera. AFDA Durban students will now be fortunate enough to have the opportunity to also work with the cameras used by these Oscar winners. Many top television series have also been shot on the Alexa, such as Downton Abbey, Vampire Diaries, Game of Thrones and more. “Having the ARRI Alexa available in Durban is a huge boost for the local industry,” says Richard Green, Producer and Head of the Film School at AFDA Durban. “Our Directors of Photography will now have the most up to date and professional cameras available to them. Our students at AFDA will be working with state-of-the-art equipment and will be well trained in the use of the ARRI Alexa when setting off on their careers.” In March 2015, AFDA Durban will be receiving a second ARRI Alexa which will then also be available for outside rental to the Durban film industry at large.

Also set to bolster AFDA’s equipment arsenal is an array of top quality, industry standard, lighting gear from Southern Lighting. Southern Lighting has been supplying lighting equipment and expertise to the Film and Television industry for the past 20 years from their branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Lagos, Nigeria. In a new arrangement with AFDA they will now have a local base at AFDA Durban, giving AFDA students and the Durban film industry easy access to a vast supply of world class lighting gear and technical expertise. “AFDA Durban is working to grow the industry with the industry, and in doing so boost our overall film scene in KwaZulu Natal. That is why we have invited the Southern Lighting gear rental company to join us in Durban”, says Franco Human, Campus Dean and COO of AFDA Durban.

Contact AFDA Durban on 031 569 2252 or log on to www.afda.co.za for more information. You can also follow AFDA and AFDA Durban on Facebook or Twitter, @AFDADURBAN and @AFDA_FilmSchool.

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Idris Elba Visits AFDA - Durban

Idris Elba Visits AFDA - Durban

With roots in Sierra Leone, it is no surprise that the internationally acclaimed actor, producer and DJ Idris Elba feels right at home when he is on South African soil. The most recently chosen brand ambassador for Oude Meester Brandy is in the country for a few days to attend exclusive events in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Elba's commitment to his craft and his passion for connecting with others, sees him lead the  ‘Mastery in the Making’’ campaign for the Oude Meester brand along with local actor and stand up comedian Siyabonga Radebe.

Elba and Radebe are on tour to showcase and celebrate the talent, skill and pioneering spirit of South Africa’s aspiring creative entrepreneurs.

The two paid a visit to AFDA (the SA School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance) Durban Campus for a short Q & A session with the students last week.

Elba shared his career story and experience with the 100 odd attentive students. He explained that at 19  he joined a community college to study basic Performing Arts for 2 years and with no technical know-how he had to learn to fend for himself in a tough industry. “My friends teased me for doing ballet and wearing tights but I can tell you that those 2 years prepped me for where I am today. (It taught me that) I could fall on my knees, I could fall on my face many times and still get back and try again."

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Janet’s shot at her big time!

 

Janet's shot at her big time!

In the beginning was the Word. Without it, there is nothing! These are words to live by for the award winning short filmmaker, screenwriter and AFDA Durban scriptwriting lecturer, Janet van Eeden. She recently returned from the UK where she attended and participated at the London Screenwriters Festival (LSF) 2014 that was held October. Last year she was invited to the LSF to the Meet the Experts panel for which she pitched her feature film A Shot at the Big Time. The short promo for the feature secured a number of nominations and won at eThekwini Film Awards 2013 for Best Cinematography. The short film was chosen to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2014 which took place in May and support and mentorship was offered to Janet during this process by Anant and Sanjeev Singh.

This year, Janet went to the LSF to represent AFDA along with other international film schools, and to pitch her new feature project The Hyena in Petticoats. “At the London Screenwriters’ Festival, writers have just a few minutes at the Pitch Fest to convince high-ranking producers to take on their project.” explained Janet.  It is no easy task but for the South African writer, it was enough to leave tears trickling down one of the producer’s faces after pitching her new project. “It’s a very topical subject and it has resonance around this world right now more than any other film I’ve pitched before. Within one minute of me pitching to her she was in tears. She couldn’t stop crying. When our five minutes were up she told me to wait after the whole session was over and to talk to her more” Janet explained.

The AFDA Durban lecturer was selected to participate in a number of sessions that included the Legal Clinic at which she had a one-on-one discussion with the Legal Expert, Julian Wilkins, regarding copyright issues which many filmmakers fall victim to. This particular issue involved someone assuming credit for a project which was all Janet’s work.

Regarding the position of writers, “there tends to be a lack of recognition of screenwriters within the film industry”, Janet elaborated. “Directors are given full credit for making a film and the screenwriters are often not even mentioned. I think this is remiss and those directors and producers who give credit to the writers usually have an incredible film as a result”.

The biggest challenge facing South African filmmakers is funding. To produce Shot, Janet opted for crowd - funding which is a relatively new concept in the country. “Making my short film A Shot at the Big Time with crowd-funding finally made people realise that I was serious about becoming a filmmaker. Before then I’d been told by many men who were older than me at the time that “a woman your age” should not be interested in making films” she said.

This goes to show that if one has a vision and is driven by passion, boundaries are limitless. With over 18 years of experience in the industry and still going strong, telling stories on film and changing people’s lives one film at a time is what keeps Van Eeden inspired. South African filmmakers have the expertise to match anything produced internationally in all areas. Janet stresses that our audience needs to be encouraged to value local productions before watching Hollywood’s outpouring. Also there need to be ways to fund filmmakers in a more equitable manner.

There was never a moment to be idle for this talented writer at the LSF. After all she was surrounded by the likes of Ted Tally, the screenwriter of Silence of the Lambs, William Nicholson, the screenwriter of Shadowlands and Gladiator and David Reynolds, one of the writers of Finding Nemo. She recalls her best moment being a full hour spent with Paul Bassett-Davies, who has co-written many British Comedies such as Have I Got News For You, Spitting Images and many more. She described it as both useful and inspirational. “After talking through the concept of my new project, I realised the best way forward to writing the script in the most engaging way possible, thanks to his suggestions”, she said.

Janet shares her experience of working with world class talent with her students at AFDA. As part of their sessions, students have had the opportunity to skype with Lucy Hay, a writer, script editor, blogger and trained teacher who helps writers as well as Chris Jones who is a filmmaker and author of the iconic Guerrilla’s Guide to Filmmaking and the organisers of the London Film Festival. 

International festivals such as the London Screenwriters Festival grant talented people like Janet an opportunity to meet and establish relationships with like-minded individuals from different walks of life. They also present a rich foundation to gain invaluable experience coupled with a pool of networking prospects. It truly is a meeting of true minds.

For more info about the LSF go to www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com and for more info about AFDA go to www.afda.co.za.

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AFDA ANNUAL FILM FESTIVAL

AFDA Annual Film Festival

The newest campus of South Africa’s #1 School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance, AFDA Durban, will be presenting its annual film, television and performance festival on Saturday, 22 November at the campus in Glen Anil.

Featuring the best of third year and postgraduate student films from AFDA Johannesburg and Cape Town as well first and second year student productions from AFDA Durban, the festival will highlight the work of SA’s top future film makers and entertainers. AFDA Durban Music and Stage students will also be performing live as well as the Television School’s shows being presented in a relaxed TV lounge set up in the school’s library.

Food and beverages will be on sale to keep festival goers’ stamina up for the movie marathon they’ll be enjoying. There will also be a bar for over-18’s and an outside chill area where film watchers can take time out between screenings, grab a bite and enjoy the open mic stage where Sonic Roisin will perform at 17:00, with AFDA music students also showcasing their talents.

A once-off entry fee of R20 grants you access to the entire festival, including all screenings and live performances. The festival opens at 09:30 with the first screening at 10:00 and the last finishing by 21:00. There will be film screenings throughout the day as well as first and second year stage performances being held in the Actor’s Studio at 18:00 and 20:00 respectively, whilst the live music performances will be outside.

Contact AFDA Durban on 031 569 2252 or log on to www.afda.co.za for more information. You can also follow AFDA or AFDA Durban on Facebook or Twitter @AFDADURBAN and @AFDA_FilmSchool.

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AFDA Open Day

Media Release

AFDA Open Day November 15, 2014

The AFDA (The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance) Durban Campus will host a Mini Open Day on 15 November 2014 from 10 to 11am at the Glen Anil Campus. Prospective students and their parents are invited to attend and will have the opportunity to learn more about what courses the campus has to offer in film, television or performance.

Boasting world class facilities and complementary staff, AFDA is listed by the Council on Higher Education as one of the top six private universities in South Africa and is world-renowned. Its history dates back to 1994 in Johannesburg with six students and a rented television set. In 20 years, AFDA has grown to become amongst the finest of its kind with three fully equipped and functioning campuses. The school has a unique learning system that provides students with authentic undergraduate and postgraduate learning environments that are relevant to career opportunities both locally and international.

The Durban Campus opened its doors in 2013 with 63 students enrolled, in 2014 the number has multiplied to 130 students. Courses offered are fully accredited Undergraduate degrees with 22 different specializations across three schools which are Film, Television and Performance.

In the Mini Open Day presentation, prospective students will receive clear details regarding courses on offer and opportunities, they will be able to watch a short film and tour the campus and mingle with students. For those 2015 prospective applicants interested, appointment slots with an AFDA staff to discuss the course futher will take place on the same day however booking in advance is advised. Learners that are currently in matric, have finished school or in grade 11 are welcome to attend with parents.

The campus is located in Glen Anil at 2a Highdale Road. The programme will begin at 10 until 11am with appointment bookings before from 9am and after until 12noon. Interested parties can contact Milena Gevers to confirm their attendance on milenag@afda.co.za or callA

RED EYE RETURNS

RED EYE RETURNS!

Initiator and creative director of Red Eye Durban, Suzy Bell, is bringing Red Eye back to Durban. Red Eye, a legendary arts project born in Durban, originally took place at the Durban Art Gallery back in 1998 and attracted record crowds who flocked to the gallery to celebrate art. It is now returning to Durban as #REDEYEDURBAN every first Friday of the month, kicking off on Friday November 7 at The Bakery in the cultural precinct of Khuzimpi Shezi Road in Umbilo from 6pm to midnight.

“There is a beautiful big fat building on the top floor of a bakery, just across the road from acclaimed artist, Andries Botha’s art studios and opposite the iconic Sugar Terminals on Durban’s harbour in downtown Umbilo. This historic building was home to the Durban Rickshaw Pullers where they originally set-up shop in the early 1900s and the original traditional Zulu Beer Hall is in nearby Dalton Road. It’s a culturally historical and wonderful, culturally-diverse community for Red Eye Durban,” said Suzy Bell, cultural activist and creative director  of this highly successful, multi-media, art-soaked project.

For the upcoming relaunch of Red Eye Durban on November 7, Bell says we can expect a celebration of art and music with Squeaky Takkie Studios doing Red Eye sound for the music line-up which includes “sublimely talented brothers and crunching hip-hop heads,” MINDCOAST ISA from Equatorial New Guinea. Also performing are THE SISTERS [of famed Black Math] with their “messy Garage-Stoner” grooves,the “super-sonic all-girl band,” THE VOLSUNGA SAGA and SATMA isicathamiya nominees, THE KHOLWA BROTHERS.”

Bell says it will get further: “flicked up” with the talented LOUD LUNGS , DJ RAWS and MVSTVBV as well as the dance crews  Amaguyz, The Goodfellas and Zoey Dudumashe.”

For Red Eye Performance Art, there’s a dark and funny performance in Mr Skaireeeee (Sibo Masondo), devised by Durban theatre legend Gisele Turner. There’s fresh comic art with Red Eye Youth from the up-and-coming talents of: Findlay ‘Rapscallion’ Atkinson,  and the well-known Deon Lange.

“There will be live graff-bombing,  light painting, and  photography and graphic art for sale. There’s kick-ass poetry and arty T-shirts and jewellery on sale as well as  fashion photography , digital films and video installations,” –enthuses Bell.

Bell’s grand idea back in 1998 was for a monthly, full-on, multi-media, culturally-diverse arts experience taking place in one space, on one night only.. Red Eye  has since travelled as a creative concept around the country and has attracted international attention as well as emulation as far afield as Chicago and Fort Lauderdale. 

“The aim now is to further stimulate Durban’s creative community into a creative economy,” said Bell. “In 2015 we want to run creative and arts marketing workshops under Red Eye mentors and then create a Red Eye App as a tool to market ourselves professionally.. The idea is to empower young emerging artists to create their own creative projects, brand more professionally and generally offer a higher standard of art as merchandise to the buying public,” she added. 

“Red Eye , together with numerous arts activations happenings in the city, will actively work towards Durban becoming one of the most creative and liveable cities in the world,” concludes Bell. 

RedEyeDurban takes place on Friday 7 November 2014 from 6pm to midnight at The Bakery, 106 Khuzimpi Shezi, formerly Williams Road. Tickets: R100  Webtickets.co.za  or R100 at the door / students with card: R80.Children 12 and under enjoy free entrance. Family-friendly time: 6 - 8pm. Early bird parking for 80 vehicles inside. Security provided. Food on sale and The Winston run a cash bar. HOW TO GET THERE: Taxi: The Workshop catch Umbilo 7 taxi. Hop off on Blake Road, walk down towards the Harbour, turn right into Khuzimpi Shezi, formerly Williams Road and The Bakery is 20 metres down on the RHS.

 For more info online: Facebook: RedEyeDurban Twitter: @RedEyeDurban   Google Plus: RedEyeDurban Instagram: RedEyeDurban  Artists may send their artist bios for future Red Eye Durban participation or to become a member to: suzybell@redeyedurban.com. 

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Flatfoot Dance Company Summer School

Flatfoot Dance Company Summer School

The award winning Flatfoot Dance Company will host its second annual four day dance Summer School from 16-19 December 2014. This intensive Summer School is aimed at pushing the technical skills of dancers in the contemporary idiom and will allow dancers (still training or already professional) to work in an environment with skilled choreographers, teachers and workshop facilitators.

“This is an opporutnity for dancers to have great fun, get themselevs into shape and open up to a life changing dance experience.” says  Lliane Loots, Artistic Director of the company. Dancers will be nurtured and supported as they take on the challenge of dancing for four full days with Flatfoot Dance Company. The Summer School is designed for dancers from the age of twelve and upwards, and “all levels of ability are welcome”, assures Loots. All dancers will receive a certificate of attendance and participation on completion of the 2014 Summer School.

The technical dance training will work in Flatfoot’s own ‘African Release Technique’, which is “a confluence of Graham, Hawkins, Horton and the American Skinner Release Technique”, explains Loots. Dancers who participate in the full programme will also work on choreography towards a performance at the end of the four days. The Summer Intensive Teaching Team from the Flatfoot Dance Company includes Lliane Loots, Clare Craighead, Sifiso Khumalo, Sifiso Majola, Julia Wilson, Jabu Siphika and Zinhle Nzama.

There are two levels at which dancers can participate in the programme. The first option is the full four day Summer School Programme which will run from 9:30am to 3pm across the four days. There is also a second option to partake only in the four morning technique classes which will run each day from 9:30am – 11:15am.

The Summer School will take place at the Flatfoot Dance Studio and Square Space Theatre, both of which are on UKZN’s Howard College Campus, Durban. The cost of the full programme is R520 and the option of only the four technique classes is R320. Applicants must contact Clare Craighead on 082 875 6065 or craighead@ukzn.ac.za (in the subject line type “summer school”) to secure their place for either Option 1 or 2 in Flatfoot’s Intensive Summer School.

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18th Poetry Africa Festival - Line-up announced


18th Poetry Africa Festival - Line-up announced

The Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) is excited to announce the main line up for the 18th Poetry Africa festival which takes place from 13 to 18 October at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre (UKZN) and numerous other venues in and around Durban and KwaZulu-Natal. Twenty-four poets and spoken word artists from twelve countries will meet in Durban to celebrate a diverse mix of traditions in oratory and storytelling.

The 18th Poetry Africa festival will feature the following poets:

Mak Manaka (South Africa), Makhafula Vilakazi (South Africa), Kyle Steven Allan (South Africa), Page Ngwenya (South Africa), Quaz Roodt (South Africa), Thuli Zuma (South Africa), Croc E Moses (South Africa), Nakanjani Sibiya (South Africa), Sithembiso Khwela (South Africa), Napo Masheane  (South Africa), Vangile Gantsho  (South Africa), Raya Wambui (Kenya), Q.Malewezi  (Malawi), Black Pearl  (Zimbabwe), Lydol (Cameroon), Stone Karim Mohamed (Cameroon), Aziz Siten'k  (Mali), Dagga Tolar (Nigeria), Ombr Blanche (Burkina Faso), Féling Capela (Mozambique), Bee Joe (Ivory Coast), Seleshe Demessae (Ethiopia), Akeem Lasisi (Nigeria) and Buddy Wakefield (USA).

As usual,  the festival will have an extensive community outreach programme with poetry readings, performances and workshops in community centres, campuses and schools across Durban and surrounding areas.

A highlight of the festival’s daytime programme will be a closed conference of spoken word organisers from across the continent hosted by the Goethe Institut, South Africa. This conference is a culmination of a project that began in 2013, that saw the Goethe Institute documenting spoken word communities across the continent on the website www.goethe.de/spokenword. The conference will explore ways to promote spoken word as an art form throughout the continent.

Poetry Africa will also collaborate with Harare-based arts festival Shoko Festival and Johannesburg-based spoken word festival WordNSound to host American spoken word artist Buddy Wakefield’s first Southern African tour. Cape Town audiences will get a first look at the second instalment of Insurrections, an Indian-South African poetry and musical ensemble that wowed audiences at last year’s festival in Durban. Together these three performances will form part of Poetry Africa Tour events organised by the Centre for Creative Arts.

Finally, the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) is pleased to be part of the inner city’s urban regeneration initiative in the Rivertown Precinct where this year’s festival finale will be hosted. The programme for Saturday 18 October will kick off with workshops and the Open Mic event, which are free to the public. In the afternoon the doors open for the Poetry Africa Slam Jam, followed by a presentation from all the festival participants give a short presentation of their work, thereafter the finale will conclude with a performance by HHP and his band.

For more information go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or contact 031-2602506.

The 18th Poetry Africa festival is presented by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) with support from eThekwini Municipality; the Goethe Institut, South Africa; the French Institute of South Africa and the KZN Department of Arts and Culture. The Centre for Creative Arts is a special project of the office of Professor Cheryl Potgieter, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

 

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SCHOOLS POETRY WRITING COMPETITION

SCHOOLS POETRY WRITING COMPETITION

The Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal), with principal funding from the City of Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture, calls out to students to submit poems as part of the 18th POETRY AFRICA Schools Competition.

With its long-standing commitment towards nurturing a culture of reading and writing poetry amongst the youth, Poetry Africa invites primary and high school learners to take up the exciting opportunity of in the festival’s School Poetry Competition. There is no particular topic for the poems and they can be written in English, Zulu or Afrikaans. Submission must be  no more than two poems per learner, with a maximum length of one A4 page per poem - illegible entries will not be considered.

Poems must either be submitted by hand to the Centre for Creative Arts (Howard College Campus, UKZN), by email to poetryafrica@cca-ukzn.co.za or by fax to (031) 260 3074 by 19 September 2014.

The POETRY AFRICA festival, now in its 18th edition, takes place from 13 to 18 October 2014.

Winners will read their poems on the main stage of the Poetry Africa festival on the evening of 17 October. Prizes will be awarded by Adams Booksellers and the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN).

For more details about this year’s Poetry Africa, visit www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or call (031) 260 2506.

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal), the 18th Poetry Africa is funded by the City of Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture, Goethe Institut and the French Insitute of South Africa. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

 

 

Lebogang Phalula races to victory in 25th Durban SPAR Women’s 10km

Lebogang Phalula races to victory in 25th Durban SPAR Women’s 10km 

Durban at its best, Lebogang Phalula claimed a dramatic and sensational victory in the 25th Durban SPAR Women’s 10km race today (Sunday) in a time of 33.06.

Crossing the line in tears of joy, the Soweto-based runner collapsed on her knees after winning, completely overwhelmed by her victory.

On a picture perfect warm Spring morning, with a slight breeze, the elite runners started off in a pacey fashion, with race favourite Irvette Van Zyl blazing a trail in the lead and Phalula and Mapaseka Makhanya close behind with Phalula’s twin Diana hot on their heels. But in the end it was Lebogang Phalula taking the honours, and last year’s second place Rutendo Nyahora  shaving off 14 seconds from her time, and Rene Kalmer coming in third position.

Close to the 2km mark Irvette Van Zyl, last year’s winner Mapaseka Makhanya and twin sisters Lebogang and Diana-Lebo Phalula owned the early parts of the race.

Between the 2km and 3km mark, nearing the newly revamped Blue Lagoon, the twins broke away from Van Zyl and Mapaseka. As the duo neared 4km the sisters were still shoulder to shoulder as they approached the Indian Ocean.

The break happened at 6km where Lebogang made her move away from her sister. “I could see she was struggling and she gave me a nod that allowed me to leave her.” said the winning sister, Lebogang.

Coming under the M4 underpass around the 7km mark, running towards the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium, Lebogang had a 25m lead on second placed Diana with Kalmer and Nyahora 70m behind in second place.

Rutendo and Kalmer had a cracker of a final few kilometres coming up from their fifth and sixth place. “We worked together slowly reeling in runner after runner. My confidence grew when we overtook Irvette, I knew I could do this!” said a delighted Nyahora at the press conference. I left Rene with 800m to go.”

“It was a nice race, and I felt stronger coming into the finish” said Nyahora, who said she had worked well with Kalmer to ensure they overtook van Zyl .

Rene Kalmer, who conceded the wind especially on the promenade was a hindrance, ran a steady race in fifth position and worked her way up to third position. “My next big event is the Berlin Marathon in 5weeks time so I am in marathon mode. The pace today was fast with a fantastic field competing.”

“I knew there would be lots of pressure on Irvette and the twins,” continued Kalmer, “and I knew the race would really start in the last 5 kilometres, so once we caught up with Irvette my confidence really grew. I am over the moon in being on the podium, and as there was no pressure on me I could really enjoy the race.”

An elated Phalula said “I am thankful to Irvette, as she set the pace in the beginning which was really fast. But I did say to myself to run my own race – not someone else’s.  I needed to make a strong comeback, and I was only racing against time, no one else.”

Diana-Lebo, had unfortunately pulled a hamstring last night as the sisters were stretching, which meant she was unable to stay with the pace but still managed to come in fourth with a time of 34.02.

A total of 14,256 took part in the event with 6,054 running the 5km and 8,202 tackling the longer race.

“We are once again pleased with this fantastic event. The weather was perfect and the mood festive and fun.” says MD of SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson. “Thank you to all the women who participated and their families and friends who came out to support them for making this a memorable day.”

RESULTS OF SPAR WOMEN’S 10KM CHALLENGE RACE

 Durban, South Africa - Results of the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge race run in Durban on Sunday

 Open: 1-Lebogang Phalula 33.06; 2-Rutendo Nyahora 33.41; 3-Rene Kalmer 33.49; 4-Diana-Lebo Phalula 34.02; 5-Irvette Van Zyl 34.29; 6-Mapaseka Makhanya 34.35; 7-Jenna Challenor 35.01; 8-Nicole Van Der Merwe 35.27; 9-Constance Nyasango 35.35; 10-Thozama April 35.56

 Junior (15-19 Age Group): 1-Mtshali Nomcebo 39.14; Thenjiwe Gumede 41.57; Nondumiso Khoza 42.43

 35-39 Age group: 1-Nonsikelelo Mbambo 41.55; 2-Debbie Perry 42.32; 3-Precious Duma 42.56

 Veteran (40-49 Age group): 1-Ronel Thomas 39.39; 2-Janene Carey 39.39; 3-Shani Silver 41.22 

 Master (50-59 Age Group): 1-Judy Bird 41.24; 2-Elmarie Coetzee 42.16; 3-Janine Engels 44.26

 Grandmaster (60+ Age Group): 1-Margie Saunders 43.27; 2-Sandra Fismer 49.02; 3-Judith Grove 49.45

 ends

 CAPTION TO PHOTO BY ROGAN WARD:

Lebogang Phalula claimed a dramatic and sensational victory in the 25th Durban SPAR Women’s 10km race today (Sunday) in a time of 33.06

DIFF Announces Audience Award Winners for 2014

Durban International Film Festival Announces Audience Award Winners 
for 2014 After Another Successful Festival

The Durban International Film Festival has announced the winners of its audience awards for 2014. The winning feature is The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared from Swedish director Felix Herngren. Based on the internationally best-selling novel by Jonas Jonasson, this energetically oddball black comedy begins with irrepressible pensioner and dynamite expert Allan Karlsson’s escape from a retirement home. His subsequent cross-county shenanigans are interspersed with flashbacks to a past studded with extraordinary events and famous historical figures. Highly entertaining, its pastiche of history refracted through the life of an eccentric is reminiscent of a darker take on Forrest Gump. The film received nearly unanimous votes of excellent from the DIFF audience.

The DIFF 2014 audience award for best documentary goes to 1994: The Bloody Miracle, directed by Meg Rickards and Bert Haisma. As South Africa celebrates the 20th anniversary of the advent of democracy, the film chronicles the countless deaths and widespread mayhem which nearly brought South Africa to its knees in the early ‘90s and speaks to the hard men who did their best to thwart the transition to democracy and who have now made an uneasy peace with the ‘Rainbow Nation’.

More than 700 industry guests from around the world attended DIFF and its sister event the Durban FilmMart (DFM). With 202 films spread over 9 venues, and more than 350 screenings, the festival was once more a great success. With just over 30 300 seats occupied, including workshop and attendance at DFM, attendance at the festival increased slightly, with the number of sold-out venues increasing dramatically.

More than 2800 people attended the beach screenings, including the annual Wavescape opening event as well the additional four outdoor screenings funded by the British Council and the National Film and Video Foundation. In terms of the festival’s visual literacy programme, the festival once again presented a programme of youth-oriented films for more than 4000 students from schools in the region, who were provided with transportation to Suncoast CineCentre’s Supernova theatre.

DIFF together with the Durban Film Mart accommodated more than 300 guests and 1500 room nights at the newly renovated Tsogo Sun Elangeni and Maharani Complex, with hundreds of additional festival visitors paying their own way at the many hotels along the Durban beachfront. 72 temporary jobs were created, resulting in more than 5 000 job hours, while DFM hosted more than 900 meetings between local filmmakers and producers, financiers and distributors from around the world.

While DIFF and DFM provide a world class film event with a strong African focus, it is also an integral part of economic development within the local and national film industry and is an increasing driver of tourism. An Economic Impact Assessment study on the festival and the market will be released later this year.

The 35th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (a special project of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the College of Humanities, Cheryl Potgieter) with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development & Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, City of Durban, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, Industrial Development Corporation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and range of other valued partners.

-ENDS

Sharlene Versfeld

Versfeld & Associates

083 326 3235

 

16th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience - August 27 to September 7

 The Centre for Creative Arts and the College of Humanities of the University of KwaZulu-Natal proudly present the 

16th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience 

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, is proud to present its 16th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience from August 27 to September 7 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre with one performance at artSpace (Durban) on 4 September.  This year’s JOMBA! is an especially focused MSANZI edition of the festival with attention being given to supporting some of South Africa’s top dance companies and dance makers. In an unprecedented move by one of Africa’s biggest and most prestigious contemporary dance platforms, JOMBA! 2014 has decided to give support and offer recognition to 5 of South Africa’s most awarded and cutting edge dance companies with a special invites to Vuyani Dance Theatre (JHB), Moving Into Dance Mophatong (JHB), Flatfoot Dance Company (DBN), First Physical Theatre Company (Grahamstown) and the Floating Outfit Project (DBN).

The festival opens with Vuyani Dance Theatre offering two works; Beautiful Us created by Gregory Maqoma and Dominion choreographed by Luyanda Sidiya. Maqoma’s Beautiful Us is a tour de force that has travelled the world to standing ovations and is a poetic invocation, as part of his renowned Beauty Trilogy, for humanity to pause to give our planet earth some space and, as Maqoma says, “to pause a while to give our traditions, our humanity space to find the much needed change we all feel must manifest”. Maqoma is one of South Africa’s most travelled choreographers and JOMBA! is delighted that he returns to our platform to share a unique dance vision.

Joining Maqoma, is Vuyani’s Luyanda Sidiya in his politically charged Dominion which, like Maqoma’s Beautiful Us that weeps and dances for a better world, Sidiya’s Dominion looks at how humanity has distorted its human to human notions of power. This work is sure to be one of the great talking points of this year’s festival.

Also featured is Durban’s inimitable Flatfoot Dance Company. Fresh from a tour to Chicago (USA), Lliane Loots and her incomparable 6 Flatfoot dancers will present a soulful and deeply personal collaboration with the musical genius of Durban’s singer/songwriter Shannon Hope. Entitled “HOPE”, Loots takes her inspiration from weaving Shannon Hope’s poignant torch song lyrics into a contemporary dance landscape. HOPE is an ironic and sometimes witty encounter with the quagmire of contemporary love relationships. This is new territory for Loots who, often known for the dissident social and political voice in her dance work, steps into a more interior and personal landscape with HOPE. Perhaps, in the end, Loots’s HOPE reminds us that our love relationships are the very fabric of our daily lives and as such become part of the deepest sense of understanding ourselves; both difficult and joyful?

No strangers to JOMBA! and Durban dance audiences, Moving Into Dance Mopathong, break new ground at JOMBA! 2014 with a collaborative dance theatre work between MIDM’s own Sonia Radebe and Canadian choreographer Jennifer Dallas from Kẹmi Contemporary Dance Projects based in Toronto. Titled Ngizwise, Radebe and Dallas offer a meeting of two dynamic female choreographers and their search for what is common and what is unique in their different styles and cultural contexts. Ngizwise is a deft and moving meeting between choreographers and dancers – cross-cultural, cross continent -  as they begin to reveal the intimate stories of South Africa and the voices of the ‘born free generation’.

From an absence from touring South African dance, JOMBA! is extremely proud to present the magical and thought-provoking work of Grahamstown based First Physical Theatre Company. First Psychical –as they are fondly called – have been iconic over the last 20 years offering new idioms and new ways of thinking about dance and theatre, and they come to JOMBA! 2014 with an especially created programme of 3 works with an all-female company. Under the artistic directorship of Juanita Finestone-Praeg (one of the original founder members for First Physical), this programme for JOMBA! highlights the corporeal imagination in the making and performing of original South African choreographies. These performance ‘experiments’ continue First Physical’s legacy in questioning ways of making and creating dance theatre.

First Physical’s JOMBA! 2014 programme includes two works by the current company manager, and seasoned choreographer Athina Vachla, as well as an original work by company member, Nomcebisi Moyikwa.  Vachla’s Deadringer , combines the authentic language of boxing with dance, in a sport-theatre performance. Moyikwa, a new choreographic voice describes her work, Caught, as “a chapter of my choreographic autobiography as a young black female”.

Finally, on the main platform performance front, JOMBA! continues its long-standing relationship with artSpace (durban) Gallery where we host  Durban’s Boyzie Cekwana and his Floating Outfit Project. Cekwana’s own brand of deconstructed and highly evocative postcolonial dance making will baffle, delight and challenge audiences. His work, wittily titled Love Letters Locking Lips/5km of Marshmallows has been especially crafted for the art gallery and as he says, “Love songs, love letters, love bites, or is it bytes? This is an experimental performance poem in loving memory of the poetic love lyric, on paper, in the body or in cheesy love songs. It is an explorative experiment in the various expressions of love and loving, in tender or violent articulations. Welcome to the marshmallow sea”.

JOMBA! 2014 is also extremely proud to begin a new chapter in the festivals history with the start of a very special long term residency programme that began in June 2014. Hosted and facilitated by Boyzie Cekwana, Dialogues Africa invited KZN based choreographers to apply to participate and over a series of interviews and rigorous meetings, 8 dancer makers were selected; Sifiso Majola, Gcina Shange, Julia Wilson, Jabu Siphika, Sifiso Khumalo, Teagan Peacock and Mlekeleli Khuzwayo.  The residency is an on-going dedicated attempt to reboot and reload the space for thought, movement, dance making and ultimately, dialogue(s) towards the growth and survival of critical South African dance makers. Cekwana’s own style of facilitation is not shy of understanding that the mind is our biggest muscle and he is using this dialogue, as he says, “to create an evocative arts space, not only to dream, but also to re-activate, re-create, re-assess and re-consider that which passes as knowledge, in all its guises; technique, creativity and even choreography!”

JOMBA! alongside facilitator Cekwana and Loots, as artistic director of the festival, looks to this Dialogues Africa as a pit stop in our endurance race to create spaces in Durban, Johannesburg, Maputo, Kinshasa, Kisangani and elsewhere on the continent for dance and its makers to remember to speak. As Cekwana so poetically says; “this JOMBA! dialogue offers a place to speak our names and those names in danger of erasure under the power of arts and culture apathy. As dance makers we need to bring forth our courage to act, to speak… to be citizens. It is our attempt to learn to speak/dance and not be spoken for”.  The 2014 residency culminates on the last night of the festival (7 September) where audiences will be treated to a glimpse into working process and some of the dance making that has been generated.

For those who are interested in watching the final week of the residency unfold, artSpace (durban) will be hosting the final working week and audiences are encouraged (free of charge) to pop in over lunch time (1 – 2pm) to see what is unfolding from  2  to 6 September.

JOMBA! hosts its usual platforms of the Fringe (Monday 1 September) and the Youth Fringe (Saturday 31 August ). With over 40 entries for a coveted place in this year’s JOMBA! Fringe, the selection of only 10 works was a difficult task but means that the final selection offers a standard of dance theatre that is growing. The JOMBA! Youth Fringe takes place at the UKZN Open Air Theatre (entrance is free) and is a celebration of over 28 KZN based youth dance groups and the incredible dance work that they are doing.

JOMBA! also offers a full programme of workshops and master classes by all of the participating dancers and choreographers. For a full listing go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za and go to the JOMBA! page. These workshops and classes are offered free of charge but booking is essential. The workshops are only open to dancers 16yrs and older. Call 082 875 6065 during office hours or e-mail (jombafestival@gmail.com)to book a place; at least 2 days in advance of the workshop.

Tickets are performances are R60 for adults and R45 for scholars, students and pensioners, and booking is through Computicket (or at the venue from one hour before). For more information, go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za and like the Facebook  page (JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience) and follow on Twitter (Twitter@Jomba_dance).

 -ends

SPAR KZN Women’s 10/5km Durban: Sunday 24 August

SPAR KZN Women’s 10/5km

Durban: Sunday 24 August

Celebrating women in August, the 25th running of South Africa’s most beautiful race returns to Durban with thousands of women gearing up to participate in the SPAR Women’s 10/5km race on Sunday 24 August.

The race takes place around the Kingsmead precinct with two distances on offer, the shorter 5km course or the longer 10km route. The start this year is in Masabala Yengwa Avenue with the route going north first, circling around the Blue Lagoon area and then a long straight along the scenic beachfront taking the ladies back to town. The finish is in Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead.

Race Director, Brad Glasspoole commented, “Simply putting it - This year’s race has a great route! The run on the promenade heading back towards Durban will be breath-taking, and surely will make it worthwhile for all the ladies.”

The start times will be staggered with the 10km race going off at 08:00am and the 5km race going off at 09:00am.

The race organisers have decided to limit the entries this year to a total of 17,500 enthusiastic runners - amazingly 25 years ago, in the first SPAR Women’s race in 1990 only 2,200 ladies lined up to participate.

“A quarter of a century, what a wonderful milestone we are passing this year,” MD for SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson said.

Continuing, he stated, “The 2014 race is a bit later on the Durban calendar, but I believe it is fantastic having it in women’s month. The weather is likely to be a bit warmer than the usual July winter start and it is uplifting to see how many people come from around KwaZulu-Natal to participate and I hope that you all will enjoy the day with us!”

The race registration will be at Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World from Thursday 21 and Friday 22 August from 10:00am to 05:00pm and on Saturday 23 August from 10:00am to 03:00pm. There are 2 entry options; online at www.sparwomensrace.co.za with payment by credit card of EFT, or manual entries which will only be accepted at the race registration on the 3 days prior to the event. Entry forms will be available from participating SPAR stores in KwaZulu-Natal. No entries will be taken on race day.

All online and bulk entries received stand a chance to win a 3 night getaway for 2 people to the award winning Fordoun Hotel & Spa in the KZN Midlands valued at over R11,000.

In the Grand Prix, top athletes will be racing to win the R10,000 that is up for grabs. Elite runners from around the country will be taking part in the hope of not only taking the top honours but earning points for the national SPAR Grand Prix.

In recent times Olympic athlete, Rene Kalmer has dominated the Durban race taking three victories in the last decade. In late June, she also ran to victory in the Pietermartizburg SPAR race, “I love the Durban SPAR race; the route is flat and fast, so you can truly test yourself and aim for a personal best time. You are guaranteed good weather and the support is amazing!”

Being mindful of the future generation of road runners, the official race charity for this year will be The Mercury Hibberdene Children’s Home. R2 from each entry will go towards the official charity and online entrants will have an option to make additional donations to this very worthy cause.

For more info go to www.sparwomensrace.co.za/durban or like the Facebook page SPAR Women’s 10/5km. For a run through of the actual race route, you can go to YouTube and search for SPAR WOMEN’S 10/5KM RACE SIMULATION – DURBAN.

 

ENDS



Durban International Film Festival Announces Award Winners for 2014

Durban International Film Festival Announces Award Winners for 2014

The Durban International Film Festival announced its award-winners last night at the closing ceremonof the festival’s 35th edition at the Suncoast CineCentre Supernova, prior to the screening of its closing film, Million Dollar Arm. The announcement comes as the festival rounds off a very successful year, with significant increase in attendance with many films screening to sold-out audiences. Festival Manager Peter Machen says of this year’s event: “I was extremely happy with the success of DIFF 2014, and it was very gratifying to witness both the large amount of sold-out screenings and also the huge enthusiasm for the festival, both from local audiences and from the hundreds of guests attending the festival from around the world.”

At the ceremony, the festival unveiled its new statuette, the Golden Giraffe, designed by Durban artist, Caryn Tilbury. Machen said of the new awards: “We are extremely that the festival finally has an iconic award. Venice has the Golden Lion, Berlin has the Golden Bear and now Durban has the Golden Giraffe. Caryn Tilbury’s beautifully idiosyncratic design is perfectly representative of the slick but edgy nature of the festival.” 

At the awards ceremony, the festival’s highest accolade of Best Feature Film went to Malian auteur Abderrahmane Sissako’s masterful Timbuktu, from a selection of competition films that the international jury described as having dealt with “individuals coping with ideological, social and political pressures whilst trying to find their own identity and humanity in a world increasingly under distress.” The Best Feature Film award carries a cash prize of R50 000.

The jury commended Sissako’s film for being “an impressively well-made film that makes us aware, in an extraordinarily human and gentle way, of the fight for dignity and freedom of individuals against oppression and violence. Beautifully crafted and showing mature accomplishment on all levels the film illustrates the absurdity of war and ideological dogmatism and offers humour, gentility and humaneness as a possible solution to the madness that seems to engulf so many regions in the world and on our continent. It embraces cinema as a weapon of love against violence and intolerance.”

The International Jury consisted of: Rémi Bonhomme, who heads Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival; Diarah N’Daw-Spech, the co-founder and co-director of the African Diaspora Film Festival in New York; Andrew Worsdale, writer, director and previous winner of Best South African Feature film at DIFF; and actress and activist Paulina Malefane, known for her role of Carmen in both the stage and film productions of U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, and co-founder of the Isango Ensemble.

The award for Best South African Feature Film, which carries a prize of R25 000 went to Jenna Bass’ exciting first feature Love the One You Love. The local jury stated that they chose the film “for its stylistic and narrative freshness”, calling it “a playful, quirky and idiosyncratic debut made with curiosity, warmth, heart and sensitivity.” Bass was also honoured with the prize for Best Direction in a South African Feature Film, with the jury describing the young director as “inquisitive, innovative and with a unique voice and luminous cinematic sensibility, who shows us a contemporary universe which is as imaginative as it is true”.

The accolade for Best Documentary went to Mahdi Fleifel’s A World Not Ours.  According to the jury, “This intimate, affecting and often humorous debut feature is a portrait of three generations of exile in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon, a Palestinian pocket of hemmed-in buildings and stifled hopes. Fleifel may have set out to tell a small domestic story about the loved ones he has left behind but the result is a powerful tale of the human cost of a political nightmare, the end of which seems very far away.”

Best South African Documentary was awarded to Rehad Desai’s Miners Shot Down. The film was also awarded the Amnesty International (Durban) Human Rights Award, which carries an award of R10 000 sponsored by the Artists for Human Rights Trust. The film was chosen “for its profoundly moving portrayal of the Marikana miners’ massacre. The human rights abuses so vividly portrayed include the right to life, the right to justice, the right to protection by the police, the right to know, the right to peaceful protest and the right to human dignity.” ­

The full list of awards is as follows:
BEST FEATURE FILM: Timbuktu by Abderrahmane Sissako

BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM: Salvation Army by Abdellah Taia

BEST DIRECTION: Noaz Deshe for White Shadow

BEST SCREENPLAY: Love is Strange written by Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sofian el Fani - Timbuktu

BEST ACTOR: Ibrahim Ahmed - Timbuktu & Tony Kgoroge - Cold Harbour

BEST ACTRESS: Chi Mhende - Love the One You Love

DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARD FOR ARTISTIC BRAVERY: Petter Brunner - My Blind Heart

BEST SA DOCUMENTARY: Miners Shot Down by Rehad Desai

Special Mention: Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me by Khalo Matabane

BEST DIRECTION IN A SOUTH AFRICAN DOCUMENTARY: I, Afrikaner by Annalet Steenkamp

Special Mention: Fatherland by Tarryn Crossman

BEST DOCUMENTARY: A World Not Ours by Mahdi Fleifel

BEST SHORT FILM: Out of Place by Ozan Mermer

BEST SOUTH AFRICAN SHORT FILM: Keys, Money, Phone by Roger Young

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD:  To be announced on Monday

Sunday is the last day of screenings with film screenings at Suncoast CineCentre, Ster Kinekor Musgrave, Cinema Nouveau Gateway, Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre (Kwa-Mashu). Please see www.durbanfilmfest.co.za for details of the remaining screenings.

Million Dollar Arm closing night film of The 35th Durban International Film Festival

Million Dollar Arm closing night film of The 35th Durban International Film Festival

The Durban International Film Festival (July 17 – 27) is extremely happy to present as its closing night film Million Dollar Arm (USA, 2014) from director Craig Gillespie, starring Jon Hamm. The screening will take place on Saturday the 26 July at 7pm and the Suncoast CineCentre Supernova.

Million Dollar Arm follows a once-successful sports agent named JB Bernstein who finds himself edged out by younger, slicker competitors. While watching cricket being played in India on late night TV, he comes up with an idea so radical it just might work. Why not go to India and find the next baseball pitching sensation? Setting off for Mumbai, JB stages a televised, nationwide competition. 40 000 hopefuls compete and two 18-year-old finalists, Rinku and Dinesh, emerge as winners. But JB’s job really begins when he returns to America to try to get the two young men signed to a major baseball league.

Talking about the film, Festival Manager, Peter Machen, saiys, “Million Dollar Arm is a film that is both accessible and engaging, as well as being beautifully crafted and filled with great performances, making it a strong festival title, as well providing an enjoyable note on which to close the festival after ten days of intense viewing"

The winning films in a variety of categories at Durban International Film Festival 2014 will be announced prior to the screening if the film.

The Durban International Film Festival ends this Sunday, July 27 . The festival includes more than 200 theatrical screenings and a full seminar and workshop programme, as well as the Wavescape Film Festival, the Wild Talk Africa Film Festival, and various industry initiatives, including the 7th Talent Campus Durban (in cooperation with the Berlin Talent Campus) and  the 5th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office).  For more information go tohttp://www.durbanfilmfestival.co.za/

The 35th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (a special project of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Humanities, Cheryl Potgieter) with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development & Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, City of Durban, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, Industrial Development Corporation, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and arange of other valued partners.