The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts (CCA), will host the Durban International Festival (DIFF) from 10 to 20 September 2020.
Now celebrating its landmark 41st year, this prestigious South African international film festival is a unique phenomenon on the African cultural calendar.
This year the festival will screen selected films, host seminars and workshops virtually and include screenings drive-in cinema screenings in Durban, Port Shepstone, Newcastle and Zululand.
The late Mary Twala opens DIFF 2020 as leading actress in the film “This is not a Burial, but a Resurrection” by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese.
The film is co-production between South Africa, Lesotho and Italy that features predominantly South African actors.
“This film was specifically selected to open the festival, because it sheds some light onto the land issues in Lesotho by telling a very personal story through the journey of one woman.
“Its sophisticated imagery, the stunning, haunting landscapes that appreciate the depth of the magnificence that is the African landscape and how this was intertwined so effortlessly into the narrative is a true homage to African folklore” said, Head of Programming Chipo Zhou.
The thriller Dust, directed by Pieter du Plessis, and with actress Shana Mans in the lead role, is the closing film for the festival.
A story of female oppression and emancipation, a contemporary look at the current global discourse on women’s rights.
This film is apt on the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic whose effects will be seen and felt globally for years to come.
This year’s opening and closing film selections are narratives that push boundaries and open up dialogue to contemporary challenges being faced in society today.
Both films celebrate unparallel performances by two South African leading ladies.
“Both narratives are about finding strength and resilience in the face of seemingly insurmountable injustice and speak very much on the human emotional need to connect, belong and be a part of something much greater than themselves.
“Set in two very different worlds, and centred on seemingly unconnected issues, both films tackle loss and trauma delicately and uniquely” , said Zhou.