DIFF 2018
Films featured at the Durban International Film Festival 2018.
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34 titles
- DirectorJennifer FoxStarsLaura DernJason RitterCommonA woman filming a documentary on childhood rape victims starts to question the nature of her childhood relationship with her riding instructor and running coach.
- DirectorLeilah WeinraubStarsEgyptJazmyneJuniorThe story examines underground LA lesbian club, its performers, finances, desire, community dynamics. Explores utopic space before/after club's existence, ephemerality, alternative economies.
- DirectorShaz BennettStarsMartin L. Washington Jr.Maya WashingtonMatt DallasTough, but diva fabulous, Leo, an aspiring drag superstar, is stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska. He and his twin sister are trapped in the monotony of fist fights and fish guts. Out of necessity, Leo learned to fight back, which catches the attention of the local boxing coach. When a new boy moves to town and wants to be his sparring partner, Leo has to face the real reason he's stuck in Alaska.
- DirectorWanuri KahiuStarsSamantha MugatsiaNeville MisatiNice Githinji"Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives," but Kena and Ziki long for something more. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced to choose between happiness and safety.
- DirectorJerome PikwaneStarsPetronella TshumaKwande NkosiDawid MinnaarBusi, a destitute young woman with dangerously-repressed emotions, lands a job as a cleaner at a rundown hospital in the heart of Johannesburg. Desperate for the money to bring her younger sister to Johannesburg, she must cope despite the predatory and corrupt hospital manager. When she discovers an abandoned young girl in the hospital who believes she is tormented by a supernatural force, Busi must face the demons from her own past to save the girl from the abusive monster that relentlessly pursues them both.
- DirectorLwazi MvusiStarsJay AnsteySello Maake Ka-NcubeLionel NewtonFor Ella (24), the death of her alcoholic father leaves her with nothing but debt and the bitter memory of a complicated past. Abandoned by her mother at a young age, she has sacrificed her life, opportunities and love to care for a man she resents but is now left adrift in the world after his passing. The re-emergence of her nomadic godfather, Neo (46), at her father's cremation gives Ella the opportunity to discover a better future for herself in Johannesburg. She also decides that she will bury his ashes at her childhood home in Jo'burg. Neo is a trumpeter who plays small gigs across the country. He spends his life in his trusted old car- never putting down roots and never being responsible for anyone other than himself. In agreeing to drive Ella from her home in Beaufort- West to Johannesburg, he is finally learning to take responsibility as their journey together forces Ella to confront her past instead of merely running away from it. The story is a coming of age tale both for Ella and Neo and the twists and turns of the long, open freeways from the Western Cape through the Northern Cape (Kimberley) up to Gauteng enable them to find strength in each other, maturity within themselves and wisdom in the characters they meet along the way.
- DirectorJenna Cato BassStarsQondiswa JamesNala KhumaloFrancesca Varrie Michel4 young South Africans go on a camping trip to the white girl's family farm. When they wake up next day, they've magically switched bodies. Later, when they've switched back, they're interviewed documentary style.
- DirectorJohannes Ferdinand Van ZylStarsGreg KriekChristia VisserGrant Swanby1981 - RECCE, Henk Viljoen, is wrongfully declared KIA behind enemy lines. Abandoned by his superiors; it's a race for survival in which his mental and physical abilities are pushed to their limits, as he navigates his way through the treacherous Angolan war zone in an effort to make his way home to his loved ones.
- DirectorHarikumarStarsUnni MukundanRima KallingalVinay ForrtThe movie is based on the real-life story of Edmund Thomas Clint, the child prodigy who left the world at age 7, leaving behind about 25,000 drawings and paintings.
- DirectorHawa EssumanAnjali NayarStarsMarlay SiakorSilas SiakorAnjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman profile the life of Liberian activist Silas Siakor, a tireless crusader against illegal logging and a symbol of resistance for a new generation.
- DirectorMohamed SiamStarsAmal GamalNagua SaidEsraa MamdouhAmal is fourteen years old when she goes to Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Arab Spring to showcase. With youthful hubris she goes straight to the danger. This coming of age film follows her in the years that follow, a period in which the fearless Amal seeks her own identity in a country in transition.
- DirectorNicolas ChampeauxGilles PorteStarsQuartus de WetDenis GoldbergAhmed Kathrada2018 marks the centenary of Nelson Mandela's birth. He seized center stage during a historic trial in 1963 and 1964. But there were eight others who, like him, faced the death sentence. They too were subjected to pitiless cross-examinations. To a man they stood firm and turned the tables on the state: South Africa's apartheid regime was in the dock. Recently recovered archival recordings of those hearings transport us back into the thick of the courtroom battles.
- DirectorEubulus TimothyStarsGreg KriekSuraya Rose SantosFrancois CoetzeeSunitha aspires for what is not expected of her. She has to dig deep with a new resolve and confidence to overcome familiar cliches and introduce new lifestyle choices in a traditional community.
- DirectorDarrell RoodtStarsReine SwartThandi PurenBrandon AuretReturning to her home town, Eden Rock, and overwhelmed by the birth of her first born, Chloe van Heerden (19) tries to come to terms with motherhood. Alongside dealing with her super critical mother, Ruby (35), Chloe struggles with the demand of being a new mom. The incessant crying of her baby, the growing sense of guilt and paranoia sends Chloe into a dark depression. With a heightened urge to protect her son, Chloe sees danger in every situation. Distraught she pays a visit to family psychologist Dr. Timothy Reed (40s) who diagnoses her intrusive thoughts and feelings of anxiousness to a mild case of baby blues. Yet the thoughts grow worse and more violent. Chloe starts to hear voices and humming of a childhood lullaby and sees flashes of a strange entity around her child. Convinced that the entity is real, Chloe does everything in her power to protect her son. Her decline reaches fever pitch, and everybody seems to be moving against her. Desperate, Chloe finds solace in the arms of her childhood friend, Emile Hess (20s). The world around Chloe implodes and it becomes clear that she and her child are in imminent danger. But from what? Is Chloe haunted by evil or is it just the baby blues?
- DirectorLeli MakiStarsDimitri BajlanisSiphiwe HlabanganeChristopher JafthaFamily, food, and love: life's three courses made easy.
- DirectorJoaquín CambreStarsÁngelo Mutti SpinettaLeticia BrédiceGermán PalaciosTomás is 13-year-old and lives under the care of his mother. Between the pressure to pass exams and the anti-psychotic drugs he is forced to take, he finds a way to escape reality.
- DirectorIan LagardeStarsSylvio ArriolaLudovic BerthillotDaydi Diaz CabreraAt the Palacio, an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean, Mike's arrival complicates the normal flow of operations. His voracious appetite, mysterious magnetism and unexpected miracles bring him the curious, among which he makes three friends and meets a few admirers, a jealous salsa teacher and an enamored octopus. All of whom will accompany him in a gargantuan downward spiral mixing civil unrest and intestinal meltdown; a change of administration held up by the most attentive staff in the world.
- DirectorDavid VerbeekStarsLuciaChen-Hung ChungDavid VerbeekA photographer takes a photo of a little girl on the nightly streets of Taipei. After this the memory of his own childhood starts to come back to him more and more and becomes intertwined with the identity of the girl, as looking at the picture he took, he starts to project his childhood onto hers. A meditative narrative in 3 parts; Taipei, on board an intercontinental flight and in Amsterdam.
- DirectorKhalid EL-JelailatiStarsCharlie BouguenonDanica De La Rey JonesRichard GauAYA (Danica De La Rey) plans to meet with BAYODE (Richard Gau) who she'd meet online. This against the wishes and advice of her best friend PAMELA (Keketso Montshiwa) who decides for safety reasons to accompany Aya against her will. What they both don't know is that Bayode has other plans. He is planning to take Aya and prepare her to be sold to MIKA (Charlie Bouguenon). When Bayodes' plans are stifled by the presence of Pamela he has to take some drastic action to ensure he makes the sale. Over a period of 2 days using drugs and manipulation he chips away at Aya's spirit before he has to deliver her to the buyer.
- DirectorSharon LewisStarsMouna TraoréNigel Shawn WilliamsShakura S'AidaIt's 2049 on a forsaken island off the coast of Toronto where the survival of the islanders depends on young Ti-Jeanne to risk death by a spirit so she can take her place as a caribbean priestess and save her people.
- DirectorTomas BrickhillStarsWilson BiswellTomas BrickhillMemory BususuSingle mother Anesu's life is turned upside down when her son enters her into a reality TV competition. A refreshing view of contemporary life in Harare, Zimbabwe, told through the lens of a classic romantic comedy.
- DirectorJoão Miller GuerraFilipa ReisStarsBitori Nha BibinhaIsabel CardosoMiguel MoreiraA chance meeting sets 25-year-old Portuguese Rastafarian Djon África on the track of his roots in Cape Verde. He hopes to finally find his father, an adventurer whom he doesn't know. But things never go as planned in life - and particularly in this charming search for Djon's identity.
- DirectorSattar Chamani GolStarsSaeed DakhMasoud MohammadiAli Mohammad RadmaneshGolmammad and Golnesa, a young Afghan couple, are illegal immigrants who are working in a traditional brick making kiln in Iran. Following the events happening to them, their lives undergo changes
- DirectorKaveh SabbaghzadeStarsHamed KomailySara BahramiHomayoun ErshadiBarfa and Nader meet each other and get marry but little by little their life begin to reach it's crisis levels.
- DirectorYaghoob KeshavarzStarsRoya BamzarYaghoob KeshavarzYoung Couple Leily and Mahyar move from Iran to Sweden, but changes are taking a toll on their relationship. The conflict will build to a fever pitch. Will their relationship survive?