NFVF sponsors Durban International Film Festival yet again

Eddie Mbalo, NFVF CEO, says, “The NFVF is proud to be one of the major sponsors of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) for the eighth consecutive year. The NFVF has decided to increase its support for this festival, as it becomes more and more the main South African film programme with an international appeal. It is NFVF's view that as we develop the National Film Portfolio as guided by the Value Charter and as we consolidate the South African film festival scene, there needs to be recognition of the fact that DIFF is the oldest of the South African film festivals and its programming has been improving year by year to world class standards.”

Featuring more than 200 films from more than 95 countries, spread over more than 300 screenings at 26 venues across the city, the festival will bring together established masters of cinema and innovative new talents from around the world.

The NFVF will maintain a strong participatory presence at BAT Centre, where delegates will be able to get more information on the NFVF and its programmes from its lounge situated at the Democratic Gallery. The BAT center will be one of the central hubs of the festival, where a packed series of daily free seminars and workshops across a range of filmmaking issues will be presented.

Conference

On Saturday 26 July, the NFVF will host a conference entitled, Treaty Co-productions and Incentives. The panelists for the conference will be Nadia Sujee, director Creative Industries and Rudi Siefert deputy director Incentives and Administration: Department of Trade and Industry (dti); Aifheli Dzebu, acting head policy and research (NFVF); Jeremy Nathan (producer, Zimbabwe/DV8 Series, Bridget Pickering (producer, Courting Justice/Hotel Rwanda); and international panelists Marit van den Elshout (CineMart, International Film Festival Rotterdam) and Ferdinando Vientini Orgnani (Zulu Meets Jazz/Italy).

Facilitateed by Jackie Motsepe (NFVF), the aim of the conference is to give detailed information on the dti production incentive and South Africa's co-production treaties, administered by the NFVF. The Cinemart co-production market will be profiled and details given.

The NFVF will also participate in the workshop entitled How to Work the Funds, which will be facilitated by Melissa McCarthy. Panelists include international film fund representatives, Basil Ford, head of media in Motion Pictures, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), and the representative from the NFVF will be Ryan Haidarian.

The NFVF will host a high profiled industry event on the evening of 26 July that will be graced by the who's who of film, including local and international filmmakers, celebrities and VIP guests.

NFVF-funded films and documentaries

NFVF-funded films that will be part of a spotlight on the cinema of Africa under the African Perspectives theme are: John Kani's Nothing but the Truth; More than Just A Game, directed by Junaid Ahmed and told through the stories of five former prisoners; Tengers, an irreverent animation, written, directed and produced by Michael Rix; The World Unseen directed by Shamim Sarif; and Darrell James Roodt's Zimbabwe.

NFVF documentaries included in the selection are Karin Slater's 50 Years! Of Love? and Keith Jones, Deon Maas and Michael Lee's Durban Poison, an idiosyncratic and personal film told through the eyes of producer Deon Maas.

Says Nashen Moodley, DIFF's manager and programmer, “While the selection boasts a number of festival regulars and favourite directors, the very exciting thing about this year's programme is the large number of new filmmakers represented. The festival of 2008 will be one of discovery: an introduction to and celebration of the next generation of cinematic legends.”

DIFF gathers together an expressive concentration of 71 South African films, comprising 10 feature films, 29 documentaries and 32 short films, which indicate the steady growth of filmmaking in this country. Underscoring the broader African presence of a further 38 films from the continent will be the Ousmane Sembene Retrospective, a presentation of all the major works of the late, great father of African cinema.

Other themes and focus areas include New German Cinema, Indian Cinema, A Focus On Italian Cinema, a selection of a number of films making up the European Union Film Focus, as well as a series of films on music.

Principal screening venues of DIFF 2008 are Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre; Nu-Metro Cinecentre - Suncoast; Ster Kinekor Musgrave, Cinema Nouveau - Gateway; Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre in KwaMashu; KwaSuka Theatre, and the BAT Centre, with further screenings in township areas where cinemas are non-existent, and a special programme of screenings at Luthuli Museum on the North Coast.

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN), the Durban International Film Festival is funded by National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF), SABC, HIVOS, Royal Netherlands Embassy, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Stichting Doen, the German Embassy in South Africa, Goethe Institute South Africa, Industrial Development Corporation South Africa, and the City of Durban, with valued support from a range of other partners.

Programme booklets with the full screening schedule and synopses of all the films are available free at cinemas, Computicket, and other outlets. Full festival details can also be found on www.ukzn.ac.za/cca/Durban_International_Film_Festival.htm or by calling +27 (0)31 2602506 or +27 (0)31 2601650.