Month: June 2015

Don’t miss the Durban Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

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THE fifth annual Durban Gay & Lesbian Film Festival will be taking place from today to Friday, June 26 at the KZNSA Gallery, 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood. The event is a partner of Durban Pride Week with the main parade happening on Saturday, June 27. A key part of eThekwini’s pink celebrations, the festival includes free morning public workshops and lunchtime screenings, afternoon filmmaker workshops and evening screenings.

Tickets range from R30 and there are special package rates available.
This year sees a retrospective of well-known Canadian gay filmmaker Charlie David’s recent films Mulligans (2009), Scenes From A Gay Marriage (2012), More Scenes From A Gay Marriage (2014) and the Pink African premiere of his latest film, Paternity Leave (2015) with Chris Salvatore (Eating Out series).
Also on the programme are the powerful documentaries Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride (2009) and Positive Youth (2013).
“Charlie is a great supporter of the DGLFF with his well received film Judas Kiss opening the inaugural DGLFF in 2011,” said Jason Fiddler, director of the festival.
“We look forward to having him as a guest of this year’s festival thanks to the support of the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria. Charlie will also be conducting some filmmaking workshops for emerging LGBTI filmmakers.”
Oscar nominated for the documentary Invisible War that saw him win an Emmy, American filmmaker Tanner Barklow and Israeli counterpart Gil Kofman will be sharing their new film, Lost In the White City with Durban audiences.
It stars Thomas Dekker as a bisexual experimental filmmaker on a soul-searching vacation with his girlfriend in Tel Aviv when a handsome Israeli drives a sexual wedge between them.
Other films to look forward to include:
• A Reunion about a gay road trip film that brings two estranged friends back together on a journey to attend their alma mater reunion in Chicago whilst confronting a complicated past; and
• Shadows of Yesterday, a drama that focuses on the growing romance of two guys during student uprisings that pit love and principles against ideology.
“We are also proud to announce the world premiere of a brand new South African lesbian drama, My Name Is Rose/Imbali, a story of forced marriage, African tradition and newly discovered love between two young African women coming to terms with a patriarchal society,” said Fiddler.
The film will screen tomorrow at 7 pm. For more on the film, see the accompanying story.
In addition to the feature films there are more than a dozen international short films and documentaries on offer during the eight-day festival.
The full schedule can be seen at http://www.dglff.org.za and you can like the Facebook page: DGLFF to keep up to date with the festival.
Shadows of Yesterday.

Shadows of Yesterday.

Lost in the White City.

Lost in the White City.

Charlie David.

Charlie David.

A Reunion.

A Reunion.

Ayanda to open the Durban International Film Festival

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Fulu Mugovhani plays Ayanda in the film of the same name.

Fulu Mugovhani plays Ayanda in the film of the same name.

THE highly anticipated South African film, directed by Sara Blecher and produced by Real Eyes in association with Leading Lady Productions, will open the 36th Durban International Film Festival (Diff), which takes place from July 16 to July 26.

Set in the vibrant Afropolitan ­community of Johannesburg’s Yeoville, Ayanda is a coming-of-age story of a ­21-year-old Afro-hipster who embarks on a journey of self discovery when she has to fight to save her late father’s legacy, a motor repair shop, when it is threatened with closure.
She’s thrown into a world of greasy overalls, gender stereotypes and abandoned vintage cars, once loved and now in need of a young woman’s reinventive touch to bring them back to life.
“Ayanda is a story about women, made by women,” says director Blecher. “The film is set in a vibrant and diverse Johannesburg and gives audiences a colourful and vivid view of South Africa right now. With a youthful cast, it has energy and street style.
“At its heart, however, the film looks at what it’s like for a young girl to grow up without a father, and how she and others around her have to learn how to let go of the things and people they love to move forward.”
The film stars Fulu Mugovhani (of Scandal fame) in the title role, Nigerian actor O.C. Ukeje and South Africans Ntathi Moshesh, Kenneth Nkosi, Jafta Mamabola, Thomas Gumede, Sihle Xaba and Vanessa Cooke.
“We are pleased that this feel-good film will open this year’s festival,” said Pedro Pimenta, director of the Diff.
“The opening film of this, the most prestigious international film event in SA, needs to reflect a clear priority established by the festival to reach and develop local audiences.
“The recently published National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) report on audiences in this country is very informative and revealing in that while the industry has been successfully structured and supported from all quarters to allow a regular flow of SA content, much still needs to be done for this content to reach local audiences. By once again opening the Diff with a strong SA film, we endorse this objective.”
This is the second opening night film at Diff for Blecher. Her film Otelo Burning, a gripping story about township kids who discover surfing, opened the 2011 Diff, won numerous international awards and was screened at festivals all around the world.
“We are very proud of Ayanda and are thrilled to have it selected as the opening film at this year’s festival. The film had a very successful screening in Cannes last month and we look forward to screening it to festival goers in Durban,” said Blecher.
Co-producer of the film Terry Pheto added: “Ayanda celebrates the diversity of our country and revels in the fact that we are a multicultural, colourful and ­exciting melting pot of Africa. With this film we have tried to capture the Afropolitan nature of our country and the energy of its people.”
Ayanda had its world premiere in Los Angeles on June 13, where it was screened in competition at the prestigious Los Angeles Film Festival.
The film, which was originally titled Andani and the Mechanic, was a project in the 2013 Durban FilmMart, the co-production and finance forum of the Diff, and the Durban Film Office. It is one of five titles that have been part of the DFM process over the years that will be screened this year at Diff. The festival includes more than 200 theatrical screenings and a full seminar and workshop programme, as well as the Wave­scapes Film Festival. Other attractions include the eighth Talents Durban ­(presented in co-operation with the Berlinale Talents) and the sixth Durban FilmMart co-production market (presented in partnership with the Durban Film Office).
• See http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

Photographic exhibition in the Durban Botanic Gardens

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ALLIANCE Française de Durban and the Durban Botanic Gardens, in collaboration with the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), are hosting the international exhibition, Women in Resistance (Femmes en résistance), by French photographer, Pierre-Yves Ginet.
The work, which will be on show in the Sunken Gardens at the Durban Botanic Gardens from June 20, aims to recognise the struggle, contribution and sacrifice of women around the world.
The exhibition is an essay of portraits with bilingual English and French text. It features 25 photo panels of 25 groups of women in 25 countries — from the fight of Congolese women for victims of sexual violence, to the fight of Tibetan nuns in Asia for education, and the fight of Argentinian women against dictatorship.
“Women represent more than half of humanity but many are still today, excluded from their country’s economic, political and social life. They are more vulnerable to poverty, lack of education and wars,” says Ginet.
In his work, the photographer wanted to depart from the stereotypical representation of women as victims. Instead his images give priority to the struggles led by many of them.
“I have always been a traveller and then I started taking pictures as a tourist,” says Ginet. “From 1991, I had a dual role of photo amateur journalist.
“I was a financial analyst at the time and used up unpaid leave, but from 1998, I became 100% committed to being a photojournalist.
“For me, the ultimate journey was Tibet, in 1991. I was shocked by the destruction of the heritage. Under the ubiquitous Chinese army, Tibetans are reduced to begging and there is rampant prostitution.
“The shock was there: it was an encounter with the reality that I did not expect. I went as a tourist and I came back as a journalist.”
Theres is a local, interactive element to this art project on Facebook.
The page Women in Resistance Exhibition, Durban & KZN is open to all and the idea is for participants to go to the exhibition take a selfie in front of the Women in Resistance Exhibition, Durban & KZN backdrop and to upload it to the Facebook page with an inspiring text.
• Women in Resistance/Femmes en Résistance is at the Sunken Garden in the Durban Botanic Gardens, from June 20 to July 10. Admission is free.

Pieter-Dirk Uys to perform two shows at the Hilton College Theatre

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LEGENDARY South African satirist, Pieter-Dirk Uys, will be performing two shows at the Hilton College Theatre.
Adapt or Fly is being staged on Friday, August 7 and An Evening With Evita can be seen on Saturday, August 8. Both shows start at 7.30 pm.
Uys started his one-man onslaught against politicians who should know better with Adapt or Dye in 1981. In Adapt or Fly, he onces again holds up the cracked mirror of satire to a 21-year-old democracy and uses humour as his weapon of mass distraction.
After successful seasons in Cape Town and Johannesburg and a run at the Soho Theatre in London, Uys will hit the stage with Julius Malema, Evita Bezuidenhout, a gang of National Party leaders and a cabal of ANC stalwarts in a show that will put a healthy perspective on our fears and worries.
Bezuidenhout will be back on August 8, and theatre-goers are invited to spend some ‘quality time with the most famous white woman in South Africa’.
A legend in her own lunchtime thanks to her cooking, and an icon who can confront any aikona, Bezuidenhout invites us to share with her the optimism and fearlessness that has made her one of the most respected voices in our wilderness of free speech.
“Come and enjoy the blacks, whites, browns, yellows and ‘others’ that make up this unique country of our dreams,” says Uys. “As long as we can laugh at our fear, we are still in charge of our future.”

Tickets are R180 to R195 and bookings open on Monday, June 22. To book go to http://www.hiltontheatre.co.za

Evita Bezuidenhout will be sharing her thoughts on South Africa at the Hilton College Theatre in An Evening with Evita Bezuidenhout.

Evita Bezuidenhout will be sharing her thoughts on South Africa at the Hilton College Theatre in An Evening with Evita Bezuidenhout.

Pieter-Dirk Uys will be performing Adapt for Fly at the Hilton College Theatre.

Pieter-Dirk Uys will be performing Adapt for Fly at the Hilton College Theatre.

Three UKZN shows heading to the National Arts Festival

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THREE shows from the University of KwaZulu-Natal will be presented at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown this year.
They are: the highly successful and acclaimed productions of Woza Albert! and The Island which have been touring around KwaZulu-Natal and the Great Karoo, where The Island was seen and enjoyed by playwright, Athol Fugard, himself.
The Island is also being presented at the National Schools’ Festival later in July.
The other show from UKZN, Match Girl, has been selected to represent the Pietermaritzburg campus at the annual student drama festival at the National Arts Festival.
Match Girl is a modern South African adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson tale of The Little Match Girl.
The story is told through a fusion of performance art, mask work, shadow play, puppetry and physical theatre.
It highlights how we, as a society, have become inured to suffering and poverty, or simply don’t want to acknowledge it.
The production retains the innocence and sentiment of the original story through the use of highly visual theatrical imagery combining modern technology with artistic simplicity.
It is directed by masters student Jessica Killerby, who was responsible for the beautiful environmental piece Her Cradle, which wowed audiences at the Hexagon and Hilton Arts Festival last year.
The cast includes Nompilo Jili, Monique Schoeman, Bongeka Ngubane, Musa Shozi and Sabelo Cele.
Woza Albert! is one of the plays for which South African theatre is best known internationally.
Its style of storytelling has inspired and influenced theatre companies around the world, and it remains one of the most vibrant examples of satirical anti-apartheid South African theatre.
The play asks what would happen if Christ (Morena) came back to 1980s apartheid South Africa. It is primarily a satire that highlights the absurdities of apartheid and displays the talents of two dextrous actors, in this case TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande, who play a range of ordinary characters on the street.
Directed by Peter Mitchell, the production is a high energy explosion of creativity and humour with a dark edge as Morena’s life is relived in an apartheid context.
Pietermaritzburg audiences will be able to see previews of Match Girl and Woza Albert! at the Hexagon Theatre at 6 pm on June 25 and at 6 pm and 7.15 pm on June 26.
A musical duo called Acoustic Assassins, which is also Grahamstown bound, will entertain in The Dive on June 26 at 8.30 pm.
Tickets are R40 (R25 concession) for each show.
— Weekend Witness eXplore Reporter
Where to see these shows in Grahamstown:
• The Match Girl will be staged in the rehearsal room at 11.30 am on July 2 and 5 pm on July 3. Tickets are R45 (R35 concessions).
• Woza Albert! can be seen at the Masonic Back at 4 pm on July 7, 12 noon on July 8, 4 pm on July 9, 2 pm and 10 pm on July 11 and at 10 am on July 12. Tickets are R50 (concessions R45).
• The Island is at the Masonic Back at 4 pm on July 2, 12 noon and 8 pm on July 3, 10 pm on July 4, 2 pm on July 5 and 6 pm on July 6. Tickets are R50 (R45 concessions).
• Acoustiq Assassins are performing at The Vic at 12 noon on July 8, 1 pm on July 9 and 5 pm on July 10. Tickets R50.
TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande star in Woza Albert!

TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande star in Woza Albert!

Nompilo Jili in Match Girl.

Nompilo Jili in Match Girl.

TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande star in The Island.

TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande star in The Island.

Flatfoot Dance Company to share the art of dance

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DURBAN’S Flatfoot Dance Company invites visual artists and dancers to be part of a unique and innovative residency at artSPACE Durban from June 22 to 26.
Local artists will have the chance to paint, draw and create around the dancers as they rehearse, dance and assemble choreography at the gallery at 3 Millar Road, Durban.
The week will culminate in a perfomance of Lliane Loot’s stunning days like these on Friday, June 26 at 6.30 pm.
days like these is a dance theatre work created by Loots in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Karen Logan as a visual film and dance feast that looks at modern day storytelling and the politics of history and memory.
artSPACE durban curator, Karen Bradtke, will select some of the art works generated over the week to put on display in the gallery at next Friday’s event.
The cost is R100 per day for each artist and R350 for the week. For the special evening portraiture session on Wednesday, the cost is R100.
For the Friday event, the charge is R50, but if you have been part of the artist residency, there will be a 50% discount on tickets.
For more information and bookings phone 031 312 0793 or email: info@artspace-durban.com

For information about the Friday night performance, contact Clare at 082 875 6065.

Flatfoot Dance Company will be in residence at artSPACE durban next week.

Flatfoot Dance Company will be in residence at artSPACE durban next week.

Eco-film, The Shore Break, to premiere at DIFF

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A FILM about controversial titanium mining will have co-premieres at the Encounters International Documentary Festival in June and the Durban International Film Festival in July.
The Shore Break unpacks the dilemma faced by a rural community on South Africa’s Wild Coast as to whether to support or resist a proposed titanium mining project that could fundamentally change their lives forever.
In the Amadiba area, the Pondo people have tended their traditional way of life for centuries. A proposed titanium mine and the government’s controversial plan to build a highway across this ancestral ground, has polarised the community with those that see it as the beginning of the destruction of a way of life, and others who see it as a beacon of economic hope for the region.
Nonhle Mbuthuma, a young local eco-tour guide, is a staunch supporter of her people and the endangered environment on which their livelihood and culture depends. She wants to develop eco-tourism in order to protect her community’s homes, farms, graves and traditional lifestyle.
Her cousin Zamille “Madiba” Qunya, a local entrepreneur and self-proclaimed moderniser, is fully supportive of the proposed mining operations and highway construction. Tired of his community living in poverty, Madiba scurrilously courts private capital and questionable government officials.
While the South African President deposes the pro-environment Pondo Royal Family, Nonhle rallies support with little more than dogged determination.
Directed by Ryley Grunenwald, The Shore Break was a selected project at the 2012 Durban FilmMart, the IDFA WorldView Summer School 2013, the Hot Docs Forum 2012 and the Hot Docs Dealmakers 2013.
Co-produced by two South African companies, Grunenwald’s Johannesburg-based Marie-Vérité Films and Odette Geldenhuys’ Cape Town-based frank films, it was in competition at the recent International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IFDA), and was named the best feature length documentary at the 2015 International Environmental Film Festival (FIFE) in Paris.
“South Africa’s Wild Coast is my favourite place in the world — it has a rugged, mysterious beauty, and our family has been visiting there for years. When I heard about the proposed mining and toll road through the area, I could only imagine the extent of the environmental destruction of this pristine area,” says Grunenwald. “I met Nonhle Mbuthuma, who is a leader in her community, on one of my trips there. When I found out her arch enemy in favour of the developments was her own cousin and that the South African Government had dethroned her environmentally-conscious King Mpondombini Sigcau, it felt like something out of Shakespeare. I had to make a film about it.
“In the early stages of filming I was only aware of how the titanium mine and highway threatened whatever was in their pathway.
“However spending time with Madiba definitely made me see things from a broader perspective. He pointed out things that I couldn’t deny: the Wild Coast’s dire need for more schools, hospitals and employment. He believed large-scale development is the only hope for change.
“On the other hand Nonhle wanted development that would last longer than the 25-year lifespan of the mine. She believed alternative development such as expansive eco-tourism could develop the area without their having to give up their land and livelihood.
“Throughout production I kept changing my mind as to who was more ‘right’ about the development of the Wild Coast. The complexity intrigued me and I wanted to allow the audience to see things from both sides.”
“We hope The Shore Break will be seen by a wide audience — not only to entertain but to raise awareness of what’s going on and to stimulate debate about the development of our most picturesque coastline.”

Exquisitely filmed with arresting cinematography, The Shore Break is edited by Kerryn Assaizky, with original traditional cross-over music by local musician Ntombe Thongo, and sand animation by award-winning animator Justine Puren-Calverley.

Nonhle Mbuthuma.

Nonhle Mbuthuma.

International film experts heading to Durban Filmmart

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PRODUIRE au Sud of Festival des 3 Continents, in Nantes, France, and the French Embassy in South Africa have partnered with Africa’s premier film finance and co-production forum, the Durban FilmMart (DFM), which takes place during the 36th Durban International Film Festival from July 16 to 26.
This is the third year that this prestigious film developmental programme has partnered with the DFM, a film industry development initiative funded by the City of Durban and founded by the Durban Film Office and the Durban International Film Festival.
Produire au Sud, focuses on developing film co-productions, and supports potentially talented producers with techniques to develop their skills in line with international trends and standards.
The FilmMart, now in it’s sixth year, includes a finance forum, master classes and Africa in Focus — a programme of workshops, and also offers a series of networking and social sessions with like-minded industry representatives.
For this year’s DFM, Produire au Sud and the French Embassy, SA, will be bringing in three leading international experts, Italy-based documentary director/producer Stefano Tealdi, Cannes-born script-writer expert Sari Turgeman and France-based strategy and development consultant Dominique Welinski.
They will mentor 19 selected film projects in the finance forum and conduct masterclasses for all delegates.
“One of our key objectives is to provide a platform for African filmmakers to promote their stories ,” explains Toni Monty of the Durban Film Office. “Over the years we have recognised story development as a key area requiring the most support. So we continue to focus on this area in an endeavour to support the promotion of our continent’s narratives.”
Says Produire au Sud’s head Guillaume Mainguet: “We have similar objectives, although we are on two different continents.
“Our programme is set within the Festival des 3 Continents which features films from Africa, Latin America and Asia, and it is with this interest in this relationship with the DFM that we are able to support the development of film in Africa.
“Working together we are able to identify and guide projects that have potential to be developed and strengthened through the finance forum programme, as well as provide valuable practical insights through the masterclasses to delegates.
“We will also award one project an opportunity to go to the festival in France and work among others, with internationally experience script experts in a week-long programme in our Produire au Sud (PAS) workshop.”
A number of projects have, over the past two years been awarded an opportunity to participate in the Produire au Sud (PAS) Script Studio through this partnership.
In 2013, the award was given to The Bill directed by Nosipho Dumisa, (co-produced by Travis Taute and Junaid Ahmed) and Whiplash, directed by Meg Rickards (and produced by Jacky Lourens).
As part of the France South Africa Seasons that year, Hhola, Hhola directed by Madoda Ncayiyana (and produced by Julie Frederikse) was also selected.
Last year, it went to Hawa Hawaii, directed by Amirah Tajdin and produced by Wafa Mohamed Tajdin, Bongiwe Selane, Helena Spring and Junaid Ahmed, and Mrs Popplestone, directed by Sarah Ping Nie Jones and produced by Jean Meeran.
• For more information about the DFM and to register as a delegate visit http://www.durbanfilmmart.com

Sculptures on show at the Artisan Gallery

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Sculptural showcase

Opening on Sunday, June 21 at 3 pm for 3.30 pm at the Artisan Gallery in Florida Road, Durban, is an exhibition of Maureen Quin’s bronze sculptures and drawings. Carol Brown will be the guest speaker. There will be two walkabouts, one on June 22 and the other on July 3. With a career spanning six decades, Quin’s versatility reflects both her European and Africa n heritage. Through her long career she has proved to be one of South Africa’s most progressive sculptors. Her training and travels have brought her into contact with both the classical masterpieces in the museums, and with the works of Henry Moore, the Surrealists, the attenuated forms of Modigliani and current trends. The exhibition runs until July 4. Inquiries: Ingrid on 031 312 4364 or email info@artisan.co.za.

Symphony.

Symphony.

STORYTELLING

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AS part of the Ashburton Aloe Festival there will be an evening of storytelling round the campfire.
Taking place from 4 pm to 5.30 pm on Saturday, June 27, The Last Outpost (of Empire) Speaks Back, will be presented by Howard Bradshaw. He will be reading the work of poet, Roy Campbell, and other South African voices.
Spokesperson, Pandora Long, told Weekend Witness eXplore: “We hold this event once a year in order to share the beauty of the Lower Mpushini Valley with visitors at a time when the wild Aloe Candelabrum are in full flower.”
Entry to the event, which is being held at Galago, is R30, which entitles the ticket holder to visit all of the five venues over the two day festival period. Children under 12 are free.
Snack platters will be on sale for R20.
The Festival itself takes place on June 27 and 28. Five beautiful bushveld venues will be open to the public between 9 am and 4 pm; and visitors can enjoy talks, self-guided trails, aloe sales, lunches, live music, a tea garden and pony rides and a birding trail.
Tickets to the festival are R30 for both days and children under 12 are free. All proceeds go towards conservation.
• How to get there: Take the N3 Exit 69, turn right into Pope Ellis Drive, towards Ashburton East. Travel 4km till the ticket booth and follow the signs.
• For more information phone Darlene Bond 082 933 5036.