With a line-up of nearly 50 thought-provoking documentaries from across Africa and the world, the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival takes place in both Cape Town and Johannesburg from June 20-30, 2024.
In Cape Town, films will be screened at the Labia Theatre in the city centre, and Ster-Kinekor at the V&A Waterfront.
First held in 1999, Encounters has grown to become one of Africa’s premier film festivals, showcasing more than a thousand hard-hitting documentary films over the past 25 years. In 2024 cinema-goers can look forward to a line-up of local, African, and international films that are making waves or garnered critical acclaim at festivals worldwide.
This year the Festival will open with the South African film ‘Mother City’, directed by Miki Redelinghuys and Pearlie Joubert, making its African premiere. ‘Mother City’ offers a heart-breaking look at the politics of urbanism in Cap Town, following the housing activists of the Reclaim the City movement as they look to make Cape Town’s abandoned spaces a base from which to lobby for the needs of the working class.
‘Mother City has been selected as our opening film, as it represents the heart of what documentary film-making is about,’ says Festival Director Mandisa Zitha. ‘It speaks to the power of film in exposing the arduous journey so many in this world have to embark on to effect change. It is also a universally powerful story of the triumph of the collective.’
Other highlights of this year’s Encounters South African International Documentary Festival include:
Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg (USA): Directed by Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill, look forward to an intimate and extraordinary documentary about the life of maverick and legendary actress, model, and artist Anita Pallenberg.
Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales (France/Mali/Senegal): The definitive story of the kora, a West African harp, told through one of its modern masters, Ballaké Sissoko. Over the past 50 years, the 21-stringed instrument has transcended its West African origins, becoming a truly global sound, with artists as diverse as Herbie Hancock, Bjork, and Damon Albarn among its devotees. Driven by the resonant rhythms of its two central subjects, this enchanting documentary is based on nearly half a century of research by co-director Lucy Durán.
Black People Don't Get Depressed (South Africa/Canada/Zambia): An engaging documentary around how depression is often unacknowledged in indigenous Southern African cultures. This is a timely and vital film for South Africa, where issues around mental health cut across all layers of society.
The Friendship Bench (SA): Directed by Rea Moeti-Vogt, this sensitive documentary dives into the origin of a grassroots mental health organisation in Zimbabwe called ‘The Friendship Bench’. Through raw and powerful interviews, it delves into local struggles and cultural perceptions of mental health.
For the full schedule of films, and to buy tickets, visit the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival website.
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