Durban International Film Festival opens in July

The event is hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Centre for Creative Arts, as a special project of the deputy vice chancellor, College of Humanities, Prof Cheryl Potgieter. This year will see over 200 screenings of new films from South Africa, the continent and the world, with a number of world premiere screenings of local and international films.

Industry initiatives include a programme of seminars and workshops with industry figures from across the globe. This includes the seventh Talents Durban, in cooperation with the Berlin Talents (which seeks to incubate African talent through master classes and networking opportunities) and the fifth Durban Film Mart (DFM) coproduction market, in partnership with the Durban Film Office, which is currently open for delegate registration.

Festival theme

Thematically, this edition of DIFF will reflect on South Africa's twenty years of democracy with a focus on film that explores the many diverse facets of the nation's history over the past two decades. Other focus areas for this year include African cinema, British cinema, the Wildtalk Wildlife Film Festival, Wavescape Surf Film Festival and a programme of cinema centred on architecture, in acknowledgement of the city of Durban's hosting of the International Union of Architects Congress 2014.

Among this year's plentiful offerings, viewers will get the chance to watch Khalo Matabane's Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me, Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Mickey Dube's One Humanity, Annalet Steenkamp's I, Afrikaner, Carey Mackenzie's Cold Harbour, Diao Yinan's Black Coal, Thin Ice and Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth's 20,000 Days on Earth, to name just a few.

New venue to accommodate festival increase

Mike Jackson, director of operations for Tsogo Sun KZN said, "The company is proud to be associated with the forthcoming DIFF and the DFM and, as it is the first time it has been appointed as the official event and accommodation partner, we are proud that Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani is the chosen venue. We see this as an opportunity to display Durban to national and international film producers, buyers, sales agents, broadcasters and film financiers, with great networking opportunities for local talent. We look forward to welcoming both national and international visitors to our province to enjoy the warm hospitality at our hotels."

Festival manager, Peter Machen, is looking forward to the move, which is, "both strategic and practical. Both the festival and market have grown tremendously over the years and we needed to consider a venue that could accommodate the size of our current set of programmes, as well as allow for growth in line with future plans."

For more information, go to www.durbanfilmfest.co.za.