Film Review - My Hood

Film - My Hood
Directors - Karin Slater, Thabo Bruno Mokoena, Asivhanzhi Mathaba, Zandile Tisani, Nadine Cloete and Riaan Hendricks.

These are six documentaries that came out of the Close Encounters Laboratory.  A development from the Encounters Film Festival.

'Knox Man' directed by Asi Mathaba shows us a paroled man in Diepsloot who likes to gamble with dice, shot on the streets it gives us a close view of what township life is like.

'The Bridge' directed by Riaan Hendricks shows us the various characters that intersect on Nelson Mandela bridge.  Shot from a window above almost voyeuristic like we see life from the strange to the scary.

'To Kill a Man's Pride' directed by Thabo Mokoena shows us life in a Soweto hostel.  We see what it takes to live in such circumstances.

'Highlands' directed by Zandile Tisani shows us how the displaced live in Yeoville.  We see a writer and also an entrepreneur and the lot they have been given.  Well shot and a great ending.

'Elim' directed by Nadine Cloete shows us inside a Moravian village and the various characters that live there.  We see how names mean something to these people.

'Roundabout' directed by Karin Slater gives us a glimpse into Hout Bay and a ghost story.  Full of some wonderful characters, look out for the flower sellers.  Well shot as it shows us both the past and present.

Rating: Worth a viewing


Review by +Fred Felton

Film Review - NUOC 2030

Film - NUOC 2030
Cast - Quynh Hoa, Quy Binh
Director - Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo
Vietnam
http://www.nuoc2030.com/

Had a look at this movie last night.  Set in a futuristic Vietnam in a world where there is no more land.  All you see is water and some floating wastelands.  We get to know Sao and her husband Thi.  They live a simple life on a floating house of sorts.  Thi goes out in search of food and Sao tends to the home.   Water is at a premium in this world.  Even such things as washing or cleaning fish prove hard.

The Director shows us quite a deal about their relationship and all is not as it may seem.
All is not well at sea.

One of the filmmakers from NUOC 2030 joined us for the viewing and he gave us some added insight into the making of this film.

In case you were wondering 'NUOC' means Water in Vietnamese.

Next showing at DIFF - Tuesday, 22 July 8pm Musgrave

Review by +Fred Felton

Film Review - The Kill Team

Film - The Kill Team
Director - Dan Krauss
United States, 2012.

One of the documentaries showing at The Durban International Film Festival 2014.
This is quite the eye opener and sitting in the packed viewing room at The Elangeni Hotel one gets quickly drawn into the world of war.  Director Dan Krauss gives us deep insight into a group of rogue US soldiers in Afghanistan.  They were known as 'The Kill Team'.  Krauss focuses on one soldier in particular, Adam Winfield.  We discover what he has to go through and the dilemma he faces.  Does he rat on his team or does he just keep his mouth shut and survive his tour of duty?

Featuring riveting interviews with the team members, graphic images, some quite shocking and for me the documentary certainly gives one a deeper insight into war and why they say 'War is Hell'.

Next Viewing: Thursday 24 July, Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre 9pm

www.durbanfilmfest.co.za


Review by +Fred Felton

Opportunity for Filmmakers at Durban FilmMart

AFRINOLLY SCREENING LOUNGE AT DFM 2014

The Durban FilmMart will this year introduce an industry screening lounge available to registered delegates to host private screenings.

This year’s lounge is hosted by Afrinolly. The Afrinolly Lounge will run from the 18th of July until 21st of July 2014.

As a new service introduced by the Durban FilmMart, the lounge will be offered free for 2014.

Available Screening date(s):

Friday (18 July) 09H00 – 17H00 

Saturday (19 July) 09H00 – 17H00 

Sunday (20 July) 09H00 – 17H00 

Monday (21 July) 09H00 – 17H00 

Should you wish to make use of the Afrinolly Screening Lounge, please make your booking via the Durban FilmMart:

privatescreenings@durbanfilmmart.com

You are kindly requested to make your bookings as early as possible as there are limited screening slots available. Bookings will be made on a first come, first served basis.

Due to time constraints please take note that the maximum time for screenings is 90 minutes per project.

Please also note that the Durban FilmMart is not responsible for inviting your guests. Applicants (projects) will be required to invite their own guests. Interested delegates should use our website to view and contact registered attendees, which can be accessed on:

http://www.durbanfilmmart.com/DelegateRegistration/DelegateList.aspx .

The Afrinolly Screening Lounge can seat approximately 20 guests and will be equipped with the following:

Public Address System with one microphone

A 62-inch Plasma Screen with VGA connection

For bookings please contact Mr. Mlungisi Zondi at:

privatescreenings@durbanfilmmart.com

(Only emailed bookings will be allowed. No telephone bookings will be accepted.)

Where you can catch the free screening of 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' on Mandela Day

FREE SCREENING OF “MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM” TO

HONOUR AND CELEBRATE MADIBA’S BIRTHDAY

As South Africa prepares to celebrate the first anniversary of Madiba’s birthday since his passing in December last year, there will be many fitting tributes to honour our country’s greatest statesman and the father of our nation. One such event will be a FREE screening of the phenomenally successful film, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, produced by Anant Singh.

Ster-Kinekor Theatres, in partnership with the producers of the film, Videovision Entertainment, The Nelson Mandela Foundation and distributor, United International Pictures (UIP), is offering a free public screening across 31 of its cinemas for the first show of the day on Friday, 18 July, at 09:45.

As seating is limited, members of the public who would like to see the film are encouraged to collect their free tickets (maximum of two tickets per person) at the selected cinemas (as listed below) on Friday, 18 July, from 09:00. Tickets will be issued on a first come, first served basis.

Says Fiaz Mahomed, CEO of Ster-Kinekor Theatres: “Ster-Kinekor is extremely proud to be associated with this initiative to celebrate and commemorate the life of a truly global icon who was revered the world over. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedomis a fitting tribute to our beloved Madiba and former President, and I would urge all South Africans to take some time out on the morning of 18 July to go and watch the film.

“His life lessons, and all that he stood for, need to be shared. For this reason, and together with our partners in this initiative, we are honoured to bring the film back on his birthday. We hope that audiences will leave the cinemas motivated to serve others and our country more readily.”

Producer Anant Singh says: “We are delighted to partner with Ster-Kinekor, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and UIP to make our film available to the public at no cost.  We trust that the film will make an impact on the audience and inspire them to follow in Madiba’s footsteps and emulate his example as a servant leader.”

The screening of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom at 09:45 on Friday, 18 July, takes place at the following Ster-Kinekor cinemas:

·         Blue Route, Cavendish, NI City, Parow and Promenade Mall in Cape Town;

·         The Bridge in Port Elizabeth;

·         Shelly Beach, KZN South Coast;

·         Gateway and Musgrave in Durban;

·         Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein;

·         Secunda Mall in Secunda;

·         Mooirivier Mall in Potchefstroom;

·         Rustenburg Mall in Rustenburg;

·         River Square Shopping Centre in Vereeniging;

·         Mall of the North in Polokwane;

·         Brooklyn, Sterland and Wonderpark in Pretoria; and

·         Carlton Centre, Carnival City, Cresta, Eastgate, Festival Mall, Greenstone, Maponya Mall, Northgate, Northmead, Sandton, Southgate, Westgate and The Zone@Rosebank, in and around Johannesburg.

To find out more about the free screening of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom at the participating Ster-Kinekor cinemas, callTicketline on 082 16789.

Find out about 'A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake' coming to Durban International Film Festival

A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake

 DIFF world première documentary

One of the gala highlights at DIFF (Durban International Film Festival) is the world première of A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake, the much-anticipated documentary debut of celebrated television/film/theatre director Michael Lessac.

The gala screening promises to be one of the highlights of this year’s festival – with some of the country’s foremost peace mediators joining the director, special guests, and members of the cast and crew for the world première screening, followed by a Q&A session.

A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake follows a diverse group of South African actors as they tour global war-torn regions to share their country's experience of reconciliation. As they ignite dialogue among people with raw memories of atrocity, the actors find they must confront once again their homeland's complicated and violent past – and question their own capacity for healing and forgiveness.

A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake was edited by Joel Plotch (In the Company of Men; Nurse Betty; Gone). It was produced by Jacqueline Bertrand Lessac and Emma Tammi and Executive Produced by Jonathan Gray, and Robert Lear.  It features never-before-heard original music by jazz legend Hugh Masekela, with lyrics taken from TRC personal testimonies. 

“Can we forgive the past, to survive the future?” This profound question, posed by Nelson Mandela, become a mandate by which other nations could live.  Lessac wanted to better understand the subtleties of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and in so doing, bring the story of the TRC to a wider audience while exploring the possibility of the TRC as a concept which could successfully be exported to other post-conflict zones.

In 2001, Lessac returned to the Colonnades Theatre Laboratory, which he had founded 25 years before in New York City, to find a way of telling the story of the South African TRC as theatre’s way of prompting others to drop their masks and tell the truth.

He wanted to look beyond the presentations of victim and perpetrator and instead examine the role of the interpreters who translated the TRC proceedings into SA’s 11 official languages.  Lessac was intrigued by the fact that the interpreters, simultaneously translating in the first person, could never turn away from atrocity. He was fascinated with what the TRC looked like through the eyes of people who, for two and a half years, verbalised every moment of the hearings.  He met with actual TRC interpreters as they relived their stories and memories for the first time. Their experiences became the starting point for the journey ahead.

In 2003, after interviewing over 350 actors in SA, Lessac held a three-week workshop with the core of chosen actors who developed script material out of their own life-experiences intertwined with the lives of the interpreters.

The theatrical vehicle for these conversations was a production entitled Truth in Translation, a hard-edged, multi-award winning theatrical production, with accompanying workshops, created between 2003 and 2006. It opened in Rwanda and toured to three continents; 11 countries and 26 cities. It has played to more than 55 000 people and facilitated conflict transformation workshops for more than 10 000 participants.

The documentary A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake is the result of this journey – a glimpse into the lives and minds of a group of South African performers who shared and listened; facilitated and responded to the heartbreaking real-life personal stories of the human casualties of global conflict. As South Africans representing various facets of South African society, they were forced to look at whether they themselves had even successfully "reconciled" their own individual pasts, and realised just how complex and challenging it is to engage with the multifaceted concept of forgiveness.

"For me, this film pays homage to a very special group of South African actors and interpreters who were warriors of the most special kind.  They allowed themselves to travel through worlds that were often more painful than their own worst nightmares,” considers Lessac.

The documentary’s intriguing title refers to a question which often appears in conflict situations when asked why perpetrators killed young babies. The answer, irrespective of culture is always, one way or another, “A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake.”

“The film was originally titled Truth in Translation, just like the play. We changed it to A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake because no matter how true that might be, when revenge is celebrated as heroism, it is a poor excuse for killing.”

 A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake premieres at the Durban International Film Festival taking place in venues in and around Durban from 17 - 27 July 2014. The gala screening is on 20 July at 17:15 in Suncoast (6)

The original company of actors were: Quanita Adams, Nick Boraine, Andrew Buckland, Sibulele Gcilitshana, Bongani Gumede, Robert Koen, Jeroen Kranenburg, Sandile Matsheni, Fana Mokoena, Thembi Mtshali-Jones and Jenny Stead along with earlier contributors Lionel Newton, Helen Iskander, Hugh Masebenza, Mmabatho Mogomotsi, Lerato Moloi, Celest Mathews and Paul Savage.

Find the movie on Twitter - @asnaketoasnake  

This Edition by +Fred Felton 

Film Review: X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Film: X-Men: Days Of Future Past
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender.
Rating: 10/10

This movie has a big cast.  All star quality the lot of them.  Special effects for days and loads of twists and turns.

A real popcorn and coke type movie so don't forget them.

Set in the past and the future the movie jumps from the future to the past.  Wolverine is sent back in time to see if he can convince the young Professor X (McAvoy) to join forces with the young Magneto (Fassbender) in a bid to help save the future.

So does Wolverine succeed?  Can the X-Men, good and bad, co-exist and help each other to fight for the future?  Guess you will have to watch the movie to find out.

Look out for some jaw breaking scenes, surprises and much much more.   Watch out for
Boliver Trask (Peter Dinklage).

Over 15 000 people worked on this movie.  It shows.

If you wait for the credits to finish there is a nice little surprise waiting for you.

Review by +Fred Felton