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Diff presents Isiphethu International Student Film Festival
During the Durban International Film Festival (Diff), the inaugural version of the Isiphethu International Student Film Festival (IISFF) will be presented as the first South African international film festival dedicated to student films.
Image supplied: A scene from Delville Wood
The festival aims to create a platform and gateway for students to the big festival by exposing them to the role players in the film industry and showcasing their work on big cinema screens. The festival will take place primarily online, with 37 films screening virtually and a selection of eight films that will also screen at CineCentre Suncoast Casino in Durban on 27 July.
“The IISFF wants to encourage the development of new ideas and showcase to audiences that emerging filmmakers globally produce good quality work. The films include fiction, documentary and animation from all continents, so it is a true reflection of what is being created in the world,” says festival manager, Sakhile Gumede.
The IISFF will also host two awards, during which it will award the Best South African Student Film and the Best International Student Film.
The award jury consists of Eman Hussein, an independent dancer, choreographer, and dance filmmaker based in Cairo; Guillem Almirall, a film director from Spain and the South African Tiny Mungwe, a filmmaker and arts manager. The annual Diff award ceremony will take place virtually on Saturday, 30 July.
Films in the competition
A Scorned Mother, a drama directed by Boitumelo te Vaarwerk, a student at Sae Institute in Rosebank, in which a young girl who is raped by a man gives birth nine months later in the same place where she was raped.
A Woman of No Importance, a drama directed by Gauri Aldekar from the USA, about an undocumented seamstress in New York City who finds herself at a crossroads of morality and self-interest.
An Island Drifts, a drama directed by Vivian Ip from Singapore, in which a young teacher presses for the truth from a maladjusted student.
Darker, a fantasy drama directed by Frank van den Bogaart from Belgium, a forest entity who whispers the stories of death to his trees.
Delville Wood, a drama directed by Afda student Lizette Blignaut tells the story of a brutal artillery barrage on the 17th of July 1916, after which the South African Army is forced into a tactical retreat.
Image supplied: A scene from A Woman of No Importance
Happy, a documentary directed by Ivan Rodin from Russia, tells the story of a son of an influential Guinean and a simple Russian woman who is one of the few black people born in the USSR.
Headfish, a drama directed by Jakub Prysak from Poland, is the story of two friends: a cow milker and a sex worker.
His Best Friend, a drama directed by Oz Zirlin from Israel, assembled his best friend’s family and close friends to re-enact the day his friend took his own life.
Hourglass House, a drama directed by Yinghai Hu from China in which a little boy wants to take an adventure in the desert.
How Small!, an animation directed by Charlene Xu from the USA, in which a young woman reminisces about her deceased grandmother.
Killing Bagheera, a drama directed by Muschirf Shekh Zeyn, in which two Kurdish brothers on the flee are confronted with hidden fears that will divide them deep inside.
Lebone, a drama directed by University of Witswatersrand student Pfeiffer Kenny, a young servant maid, has her son taken away from her at birth by the farm owner’s wife.
Mona & Parviz, a drama directed by Kevin Biele from Germany about an unannounced visit by the immigration office.
Nothing To See Here, an observational comedy directed by Victor Candeias from Portugal about the pleasure of looking in a place where there is seemingly nothing to look at.
Sort of Grown-Up, an observational documentary directed by Marlena Molitor from Germany, provides intimate insight into the world of three young women teetering on the edge of adulthood.
Triangle, a sci-fi pseudo-documentary drama directed by Peter Engelmann from Hungary, explores the human mind's dark realms.
Where is Mr Adams?, a short comedy-drama by Afda student Cameron Murray, in which An untalented and ill-prepared amateur theatre crew must perform the opening night of a mediocre stage production.
Image supplied: A scene from Happy
Programme and details
Diff 2022 will be presented in a hybrid edition with online screenings here and a diverse live programme offered at Suncoast CineCentre, Durban.
The live screening schedule is accessible here. Tickets for the live screenings are available directly at the Suncoast CineCentre. The entire festival programme can be viewed here.
The 43rd edition of the festival is produced by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, in partnership and with the support of KZN Film Commission, the National Film and Video Foundation, KZN Department of Arts and Culture, Avalon Group and other valued funders and partners.
