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Encounters Doccie Fest announces this year's short film lineup
The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival has announced the list of short films that will screen this year. The short film lineup includes South African, African and international contributions and a special selection of films from students on the African continent.
The short films span a range of topics including the environment, health, women, sport, race, art and politics, featuring protagonists such as an aspiring jockey from the Eastern Cape, a drag artist from Belgium and a group of young photographers who have become passionate about conserving wildlife.
The festival programme will make almost all films free-of-charge to view on virtual platforms from 20–30 August 2020.
Highlights
Highlights include “Also for Grownups”, directed by Tim Wege and Peter O'Donnghue, which takes a look at South Africa’s exploding animation scene in 2019 – the year Netflix commissioned their first animated original from Africa, Triggerfish’s Mama K’s Team 4. The film foregrounds those who have crafted careers out of drawings and animation in an industry that is still unlocking its potential. The award-winning “Mother's”, directed by Hippolyte Leibovici, has picked up prizes from Festival International Documentaire 2020, the Brussels Art Film Festival 2019 and the International Queer Film Festival Mexico 2019, amongst others. It takes a sultry, evocative look at a young, gay drag artist who has not yet come out about his profession to his mother, which he and his fellow performers refer to as ‘dragging out’.
Conservation issues
Conservation issues are highlighted in “Beyond the Fence”, directed by Tessa Barlin, about the uplifting Wild Shots photographic project near the Kruger National Park, which engages disadvantaged youth living nearby in wildlife education and conservation. “From the Frontline”, directed by Emile Fick, focuses on the owner of a conservation farm in the Northern Cape region of South Africa who has developed a new form of rhino reserve with an ‘aggressive conservation’ approach. In “She Breathes Water”, renowned artist Penny Siopis uses an evocative collage of found footage to comment on humans’ destruction of the environment and how difficult it is for ecosystems to recover.
Young boys and men battling harsh circumstances are foregrounded in “Difficult/Dafa Metti”, directed by Tal Amiran, a heart-wrenching portrayal of the hardships faced by Senegalese men who seek a better future in Paris, only to be subject to police brutality, ridicule and, in some cases, deportation to countries which are not their own. “Never Come Fetch Me”, directed by Jessie Ayles, focuses on an adolescent overcome by peer pressure, drugs and gangsterism growing up in Cape Town’s Lavender Hill.
Lens on race
Three films turn the lens on race, but from very different perspectives. Ashleigh da Silva’s "Blend” follows a South African couple – he is Black, she is white – who choose to have a blended wedding as part of a promise they’ve made to honour who they are and their differences. In “Brown Skinned Girl”, directed by Mona-Lisa Msime, a young South African girl struggles to see the beauty in her reflection until she holds her own ‘Brown Skinned Girl AA meetings’ and reintroduces herself to herself. And Busisiwe Matonsi’s “The World of Online Dating” explores online dating in the black community of Cape Town, South Africa.
Focus on women
Several films focus on women and women’s issues. “A House”, directed by Fanny Rosell, tells the story of Sweden’s largest and oldest co-living space created for and occupied exclusively by women. It is a safe and unifying space. Tavo Ruiz’s “Portraits of My Mother” is a chilling account by a Mexican mother who was raped as a five-year-old child due to neglect on the part of her mother. The film is a universal story of women who are victims of sexual abuse and an alarming reminder of the dangers facing unattended children. In “Women's Mobile Museum: Portraits of Visual Activism”, directors Cindy Burstein and Anula Shetty create a powerful compendium of stories lived and told by women belonging to the inspirational Women’s Mobile Museum (WMM), a concept developed by iconic South African artist, Zanele Muholi.
Other highlights include “The Bisho Massacre: Who Pulled the Trigger” by Petunia Mokoena, which gives a chilling account of the 1992 Bisho massacre in South Africa; “Womb Dance” (dir. Ratsheko Mashilo Nthite, SA), a celebration of dance with performers of varying abilities; “The Angel of History” (dir. Eric Esser, Germany), a pensive reflection on Walter Benjamin, the famous German-Jewish philosopher; and “Set Apart” (dir. Dakota Jegels, SA), about a powerlifter who hopes to one day study graphic design.
Get the full programme at encounters.co.za
