{"id":8572,"date":"2019-05-15T16:27:54","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T14:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=8572"},"modified":"2019-05-15T16:28:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T14:28:06","slug":"encounters-announces-opening-night-film-and-more-of-the-hottest-2019s-acclaimed-documentaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2019\/05\/15\/encounters-announces-opening-night-film-and-more-of-the-hottest-2019s-acclaimed-documentaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Encounters Announces Opening Night Film And More Of The Hottest 2019’s Acclaimed Documentaries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The 21st Encounters South African International Documentary Festival has announced the opening night film as well as a host of the most talked about non-fiction films from the past year. Fresh from the world\u2019s leading festivals, Encounters has secured the rights to screen 2019\u2019s most acclaimed documentaries, movies that put you in places as diverse as the front row of high-fashion\u2019s runways to eavesdropping on an international racist conspiracy with South African ties, from a tribute to Pan-Africanism via Fela Kuti to Afrika Bambaataa\u2019s search for his routes in Kwa-Zulu Natal, this years selection is overflowing with essential choices for documentary fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening night film, coming just weeks after its World Premiere in Competition at Hot Docs, Toronto\u2019s holy grail of documentary film festivals \u201cBuddha In Africa\u201d, by South African director Nicole Schafer receives its’ joint South African premiere at Encounters and the 40th Durban International Film Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This delicately observed documentary is about a Malawian teenager in a Chinese Buddhist orphanage in Africa, who finds himself torn between his African roots and Chinese upbringing. The film focuses on Enock, a young teenager caught between his traditional culture, his dreams of becoming a martial arts hero like Jet Li and the strict discipline of Confucianism. Set against the backdrop of China\u2019s growing influence on the African continent this essential film poses complex questions about race, imperialism, faith and culture and offers a subtle exploration of the impact of soft cultural power on the identity and interior life of a young boy and his community. Director Schafer says, \u201cIt\u2019s also about Africa’s relations with other foreign nations, including the former colonisers. It’s this idea that the key to the future of the continent\u2019s development is always held by outsiders, and that in order to succeed, we have to adapt to foreign value systems and policies. I think Enock\u2019s story challenges this idea in very refreshing ways.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, once again Encounters is proud to co-present several South African and international documentaries in association with DIFF. The partnership has enabled filmmakers to premiere their films at both Festivals for the last 14 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next ten days from 6th to 16th June Cape Town and Johannesburg audiences will have the privilege to see this year\u2019s top-rated documentaries, each of them breaking new ground in non-fiction filmmaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find eye-popping spectacles as you\u2019re placed in the front row of high-fashion in Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui\u2019s ravishing \u201cMcQueen”, a superbly crafted, emotionally wrenching and fully dimensional portrait of ill-fated British fashion designer Alexander McQueen. A working-class gay boy from a housing estate, his phenomenal storming of the walls of the ever-so trendy world of the demi-monde is fascinating in itself. And the film, like his designs is scorchingly outspoken, thrilling, troubling and tinged with tragedy. Nominated for a BAFTA for both best documentary and Outstanding British Film of the year the film Won 2019\u2019s LGBTQ documentary of the year from the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCold Case Hammarskj\u00f6ld\u201d won Danish provocateur Mads Br\u00fcgger Best World Documentary Director at February\u2019s Sundance festival, and received the same honour from this year\u2019s One World International Human Rights Documentary Festival. Br\u00fcgger is infamous for his ironic and incisive trawling of the tainted and the corrupt. In 2011, his documentary The Ambassador was about the trading of diplomatic titles in Africa. Now he is back in Africa on the trail of the plotters and murderers of UN Secretary Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld in 1961. The dirt he uncovers should be creating a stench from London to South Africa via Belgium in what Variety\u2019s Owen Glieberman described as, \u201ca singular experience that counts as one of the most honestly disturbing and provocative nonfiction films in years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another coup for this year\u2019s Encounters is the screening of \u201cTalking About Trees\u201d, director Suhaib Gasmalbari\u2019s elegant and bittersweet chronicle of the demise of Sudanese cinema and the group of retired directors hoping to revive their country\u2019s love of film. The film won the Glasshutte Prize for Best Documentary and the Panorama Audience Award at this year\u2019s Berlin International Film Festival before winning the Fipresci Prize and Jury Prize at the Istanbul International Film Festival in April this year. Charming and sad in equal measure this is a paean to the love of cinema as two of the one-time luminaries of Sudanese cinema \u2013 Ibrahim Shaddad, Suleiman Mohamed and their cineaste friends Suliman Enour and Eltayeb Mahdi \u2013 attempt to revive a cinema in a country where movies have been banned for years. A gorgeous experience for those who travel in the projector\u2019s beam, and for those who prefer to watch movies in the comfort of their own streaming services, this eye-opening documentary may make them reconsider the value, both cultural and political, of being able to see something on the big screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brazilian director Joel Zito Ara\u00fajo\u2019s \u201cMy Friend Fela\u201d had its World Premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam before going on to win the Paul Robeson Award for Best Film from the Diaspora at Burkina Faso\u2019s FESPACO, the world\u2019s pre-eminent African film festival. It explores the life of legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti from the perspective of his long-time friend Carlos Moore. Locating Fela\u2019s story firmly within the Black Consciousness movement, the film follows him from his first travels to London and New York \u2013 where he was confronted with his own blackness and African identity for the first time \u2013 to his ascent as one of the planet\u2019s most acclaimed musical talents, and his eventual death in 1997. The resulting film is both a portrait of a remarkable man and a tribute to the Pan-African generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe State Against Mandela and the Others\u201d from French directors Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte was in the Official Selection of this year\u2019s Cannes and was nominated for a Cesar, receiving acclaim for its unexpectedly refreshing take on the apartheid era\u2019s pivotal Rivonia trial. Drawing on a treasure trove of previously inaccessible 256 hours of audio recordings, the directing duo bring the archive clips alive using heavily stylized hand-drawn visuals by the Dutch graphic artist Oerd van Cuijlenborg, whose kinetic monochrome animations morph into pure abstraction in places. It is a remarkable documentary and an inspired recycling of archival material. Weaving the reflections of those still alive into this artful fusion, the film brings emotive, enlightening perspective to a case that may be most famous for putting Mandela in prison for 27 years, but ruptured many other lives besides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A feast of new South African films will also be screening at this year\u2019s Encounters. Following its North American premiere at Hot Docs this May \u201cDying for Gold\u201d from directors Catherine Meyburgh and Richard Pakleppa , is a devastating documentary centred around South Africa\u2019s biggest class-action lawsuit, against the mining industry – a key force in shaping apartheid South Africa. Featuring a rich archive of footage from the colonial and apartheid eras, along with interviews with gold miners whose lives have been decimated by silicosis and tuberculosis, this forceful, vivid film clearly shows how Southern Africa\u2019s indigenous societies were destroyed in order to mine the world\u2019s richest deposits of gold at the cheapest possible price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally as passionate is Susan Scott\u2019s \u201cStroop: Journey into the Rhino Horn War\u201d, which made headlines as South Africa\u2019s breakout documentary of the year after winning over 17 international awards. As gripping and grueling as the best of thrillers, it follows two inexperienced female filmmakers who travel the African bush and South-East Asia in search of answers to the random slaughter of the world\u2019s diminishing rhino population. Most recently it won the sought-after ‘Best of Festival’ award as well as ‘Best Independent or Feature Film’ at the International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF) in Montana this April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Yule\u2019s tribute to a South African legend \u201cAmericans, Mongrels & Funky Junkies \u2013 the Life of Jo Menell\u201d is an inspiring and affectionate tribute to a rare South African whose life of exile and global activism has aligned with many of the key moments and figures of the last 60 years. From Vietnam to Castro, from Hockney to Mandela, filmmaker Jo Menell\u2019s exceptional capacity to be both storyteller and subject offers an unusual and brilliant perspective into the complexity of our times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s festival sees a rare screening of \u201cVillage Versus Empire\u201d by Emmy winning South African director Mark J Kaplan. Set on Jeju Island, off the coast of the Korean Peninsula – one of the ‘Seven Wonders of Nature’, with more UNESCO Natural Heritage Sites than any single geographic location on planet earth. But, there is trouble in this paradise. Its fragile ecology and ancient shamanistic traditions are currently being devastated by the construction of a US naval base. Through the memories and actions of a range of political activists, religious leaders and artists the film explores the inter connectedness of past, present and future and the universal relevance of a village resisting an empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cZulu Return\u201d is the intriguing debut from emerging director gugulethu. The documentary follows the fallen hip hop hero Afrika Bambaataa\u2019s spiritual quest to South Africa \u2013 the country he spent so much of his life honouring and defending through his music and activism \u2013 as he faces the effects of abuse allegations against him in his own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encounters is delighted to announce a Swiss Focus, in association with Swiss Films and the Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa Consulate General of Switzerland in Cape Town, that will include \u201c#Female Pleasure\u201d Barbara Miller\u2019s Award winning examination of the obstacles that stand in the way of female sexuality in the 21st century. Emmanuelle Antille\u2019s \u201cA Bright Light: Karen and the Process\u201d a wild and enchanting journey in the footsteps of cult singer Karen Dalton, forgotten muse of the 60’s and \u201cChris the Swiss\u201d director Anja Kofmel\u2019s dazzling feature debut where she revisits the wild life and strange death of her war reporter cousin with an innovative blend of animation and documentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was 21 years ago that Encounters collaborated with Pro Helvetia on the first Encounters Swiss South African Documentary Film Festival and the Close Encounters Documentary Film Making Lab in 1999. In 2001 Encounters became the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, but our relationship with Switzerland has endured, particularly with Vision du R\u00e9el, in Nyon, a documentary festival that regularly incorporates a South African Focus, hosting local filmmakers and their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also in the bumper line-up for this years feast of non-fiction film are \u201cBeyond the Frontlines: Resistance and Resilience in Palestine\u201d a significant and powerful film from French author and feminist Alexandra Dols, German documentarian Karin Jurschick\u2019s \u201cPlaying God\u201d which follows the struggle of the charismatic and controversial US attorney who, since 9\/11, has been charged with the impossible task of assigning a dollar value to life when compensating victims of America\u2019s most tragic events. Lesotho breakthrough filmmakerLemohang Jeremiah Mosese\u2019s beautifully poetic \u201cMother, I Am Suffocating, This Is My Last Film About You\u201d, Jacqueline Gozland\u2019s moving tribute to the heydays of the Algerian cinematheque \u201cMy Story Is Not Written Yet\u201d as well as the premiere of progressive Soweto-born filmmaker Fanney Tsimong\u2019s \u201cMy Culture My Music\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Premiere of Jozi Gold is a story of wealth, greed and poisonous mountains. Johannesburg has produced a third of all the gold in the world. Now the gold is running out, the mines are falling apart and toxic waste turns water into poison. Former Jehovah\u2019s Witness Mariette Liefferink is on a mission to force the mine bosses to clean up. The film is by Fredrik Gertten and Sylvia Vollenhoven based on an original story by Adam Welz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encounters is made possible by the support of Bertha Foundation, City of Cape Town, WESGRO, Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa Consulate General of Switzerland in Cape Town, Swiss Films, IFAS – The French Institute of South Africa, DOK.fest Munich, Goethe Institut, Backsberg Estate Cellars, HCI Foundation, Refinery, Documentary Filmmakers Association, South African Guild of Editors, UCT Centre for Film & Media Studies, City Varsity, Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking, Labia, Ster Kinekor Cinema Nouveau, The Bioscope, Bertha Movie House, Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education and Protea Hotel Fire & Ice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 21st Encounters South African International Documentary Festival has announced the opening night film as well as a host of the most talked about non-fiction films from the past year. Fresh from the world\u2019s leading festivals, Encounters has secured the rights to screen 2019\u2019s most acclaimed documentaries, movies that put you in places as diverse… Continue reading Encounters Announces Opening Night Film And More Of The Hottest 2019’s Acclaimed Documentaries<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[141],"class_list":["post-8572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-festival","tag-encounters","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}