Making its debut at the Durban International Film Festival is “The Art of Fallism”, a South African/Norwegian documentary.
The deeply complex story is about those who struggle for a voice within the collective struggle for equality.
The DIFF will take place from September 10 to 20.
Directed by Norwegian director Aslaug Aarsæther, “The Art of Fallism” emerged and evolved from the Norwegian film-makers questioning the absence of debates around equality, race, and gender and how they relate, in their own country.
The film uses the 2015 #RhodesMustFall movement in South Africa, as its point of departure, while using the voice of the artist as a metaphor for the desire for understanding, capacity, and change.
The #RhodesMustFall uprising began at the University of Cape Town, as a challenge to the presence of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes. Student, Chumani Maxwele, by throwing faeces onto the statue, protests against its presence and colonial representation and by extension its insidious manifestation in education in the country.
This launches a student movement to topple the statue and the colonial education system entrenched within the establishment, which reaches other tertiary institutions around South Africa.
In understanding this struggle the students realised that education is systematically flawed by its exclusions of those who are not financially privileged to access it. Enter the #FeesMustFall movement which targeted the concept of student fees demanding an increase in funding to tertiary institutions across the country.
These events awakened a new generation of activists connected by a common cause, bringing together people from myriad backgrounds including young township men, feminists, and the trans community, all who wanted to revolutionize a racist and systematically unequal South Africa.
Wisaal Abrahams, co-produced said as a black women producer it was essential to come on board this project, to support the process of the making of the film.
“As we all seek glory and recognition for our stories, we also need to understand that the colonial models on which we based this success on, haven't considered the imbalance of power when retelling them.
“Our stories must have guardianship that honours this, and we believe we have been able to do this in telling these stories,” said Abrahams.
Abrahams will feature in an “Engage” session at the 11th Durban Film Mart virtual edition from September 4 to 13 where to speak candidly about their experience and the notion of de-colonial approaches to storytelling which became a strong guiding tool for their production process.
“The Art of Fallism” will be streamed from the DIFF online platform from September 10 to 20.
The DIFF films are free, with limited tickets available, and booking is essential.