ENTERTAINMENT NEWS - If there’s one film festival South Africans should mark in their calendars it’s the annual European Film Festival.
“Blasphemy!”, you might cry. Why focus on international cinematic content when we should be focusing on SA-driven narratives?
The reason is simple. There’s a number of other platforms for locally-produced films and the European Film Festival is one of the best curated cinematic experiences available.
The organisers work closely with embassies and consulates to provide films many movie lovers would have otherwise missed.
This year the festival opens on June 21 at Cinema Nouveau in Rosebank, Brooklyn and the V&A Waterfront. The festival will showcase 10 films selected from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The festival’s focus this year is on films made by women.
“The biggest achievement in this selection has been securing films by award-winning first-time and emerging women filmmakers who have come out with bold cinematic offerings,” says Lesedi Oluko, the festival curator.
The festival opens with the entry from Britain, the Bafta award-winning I Am Not A Witch. Set in a Zambian village, the film directed by Rungano Nyoni, follows nine-year-old Shula as she is banished to a camp (and tourist site) for women accused of witchcraft.
Nyoni’s timely directorial feature debut tackles superstition, sexism, and the horrible events that can occur as a result of blind faith.
Verano 1993 (Spain)
Carla Simón’s first feature film, Verano 1993 (Summer 1993), is a poignant story of a six-year-old girl who, after losing her parents, tries to adjust to a new life with her adopted family.
Amateurs (Sweden)
In Gabriela Pichler’s second feature film, Amateurs, two teenagers set out to showcase the communal heartbeat of their economically declining provincial town.
Set against the backdrop of the municipality’s desires to pursue the construction of a multinational chain store, the film merges humour and social commentary.
Mademoiselle Paradis (Austria)
Based on the story of prolific 18th century blind Viennese pianist, Maria Theresia von Paradis, the film charts her relationship with a physician tasked with restoring her sight.
Maria Dragus delivers an unforgettable performance that draws you into the world of Paradis as she navigates adolescence through the politics of class and gender norms.
In The Fade (Germany)
Fatih Akin’s latest film and winner of the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film is a moving portrait of the modern condition in parts of Europe.
When a bomb attack changes the life of a woman who loses her husband and son, she goes through the grieving process. The official court case reveals two young right-wing extremists caused the attack. The film tracks her journey to closure as she navigates through the meaning of her life in the absence of her loved ones.
