Having to adapt to the new norm, the organizers of the annual Joburg Film Festival together with partners NFVF and GFC today announced that the 2020 edition of the festival will be staged as a two-day event later this month in the city of gold.
The Joburg Film Festival historically staged in the last week of November as a six-day festival, will now take place on 28 and 29 November with a limited film selection with a huge focus on development workshops.
The Joburg Film Festival is anchored by three main pillars which drive and direct all activities and engagements related to the delivery of the festival. These three pillars are the Film Programme, the Industry Programme and the Youth & Audience Development Programme.
Limited Film Programme
This year three specially curated films will be featured and celebrated at a local cinema over the two days of the 2020 instalment, with an opportunity for the general public to attend the screenings of these films.
The focus of the 2020 targeted films places the spotlight on “displacement”, an apt theme during the global pandemic.
With the huge impact of COVID19 globally, the pandemic has amplified bullying, harassment and murder across the African continent. Whilst the films may not address these issues directly, they do explore the lives of people who are marginalized, some by choice and others by the circumstances they find themselves in, which motivates their decision to find a new place to call home.
The opening film, This is Not A Burial It’s a Resurrection features the late legendary Joburg born actress Mary Twala just prior to its Oscar run post the festival.
Film 1: This is Not A Burial It’s A Resurrection (OPENING FILM)
Director: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Country: South Africa
Duration: 120 minutes
Year: 2019
Amongst the pythonic mountains of landlocked Lesotho, an 80-year-old widow winds up her earthly affairs, makes arrangements for her burial and prepares to die.
But when her village is threatened with forced resettlement due to the construction of a reservoir, she finds a new will to live and ignites a collective spirit of defiance within her community.
In the final dramatic moments of her life, Mantoa’s legend is forged and made eternal.
Film 2: There's Power In the Collar
Director: Lodi Matsetela and Vincent Moloi
Country: Botswana
Duration: 175 minutes
Year: 2020
As Botswana awaits a possible landmark judgement from its high court, seeking to decriminalize same sex relations, Chantel, a 27 year old lesbian who's both a theologian and a queer rights activist, attempts to start her journey to get ordained as a reverend in Botswana's religiously conservative and homophobic society.
Film 3: Beyond Moving
Director: Vikram Dasgupta
Country: Canada/South Africa
Duration: 84 minutes
Year: 2019
“Beyond Moving is a heartbreaking tale of the things we sacrifice for art”.
When young Siphe November leaves his small township in South Africa to follow his dreams at Canada’s National Ballet School, he begins a remarkable journey that reveals deeply personal pulses of family, prejudice, expectation, loss, and resilience that beat beneath the surface of a beautiful and demanding art form.
Screenings will be held at Cinema Nouveau in the Rosebank Mall and the Bioscope at 22 Stanley in Milpark. Limited tickets will be sold at the door of each of the respective venues.
Youth & Audience Development Programme
The Youth and Audience Development programme is a skill sharing platform that affords young aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to learn from and engage with industry professionals, hosted in partnership with the Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) and the National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF).
Due to the pandemic, the programme will be delivered as well structured one-day workshop that incorporates the province’s youth from different regions at a central location and is also recorded for virtual streaming and broadcast.
Black youth who are students or aspirant filmmakers between the ages of 18 and 30 years with a matric or an alternative equivalent as a minimum participating criterion will be selected for the workshop.
Twenty youth from each of the 5 of Gauteng’s regions will be selected to attend the physical one-day workshop on Saturday 28 November that will be held at the Lesedi Theatre @ Joburg Theatre, bringing the total attendees and participants to 100/150 pax.
The 5 regions have been identified as:
Ekurhuleni
Mogale City
Sedibeng
Tshwane
City of Joburg
Interested participants can send their details (full name and age) to either of the contact details below:
Whatsapp line: 067 770 1574
Email: info@joburgfilmfestival.co.za
The workshop will be screened and made available via the JFF website post the event to reach and impact an even broader audience than the one that attended physically.
Sadly, the Industry Programme will not take place this year due to COVID19 travel restrictions.
“The focus of the 2020 festival will be on the third pillar of the festival which emphasizes JFF’s commitment to developing, empowering and skilling the youth whilst contributing to the development of the cinema culture and growing audience appreciation for local films”, stated Joburg Film Festival Executive Director Tim Mangwedi. We are also extremely honoured to be opening the festival this year with film This is Not A Burial It’s A Resurrection’ finally giving the Joburg audience a chance to catch this brilliant cinematic work on the big screen”.
For more information on the Joburg Film Festival, checkout
Website: Joburg Film Festival
Facebook: JoburgFilmFestival
Twitter: @JoburgFilmFest
Instagram: @joburg_film_festival
