As documentary film gains momentum globally, the international film festival community has been thrust into a financial crisis, signaling a threat to the democratic space provided by film festivals. Additionally, with a crisis in broadcasting internationally, that
community is now faced with a challenge and is having to find new ways to operate.
We are proud of our involvement with Sichuan TV Festival (China), Tempo Documentary Festival (Sweden), Africadoc (France) and BBC Myworld Competition.This year, we are operating with the same budget as we did in 1999 when the Festival began, so the cocktails won’t be as fancy. Despite
radical budget cuts we will continue to host this Festival annually for
the benefit of our stakeholders and our audiences. Look through our programme, and you will discover that we have scoured the international festival scene, film magazines, websites
and recommendations from fellow cinephiles to bring you excellent
films that reflect the genre locally and internationally.
We received a record-breaking 800 films from around the world, an indication of our reputation internationally. The selection process
was rigorous and we enlisted the help of over ten film readers from
across various fields (academia, film, media industries).
We have done (almost) everything to bring you a programme of 50+ films including international award winners, festival favourites
and SA World Premières.
We welcome our international guests Denis Delestrac (France /Spain), Yoruba Richen (USA) and Stefanie Brockhaus and Andy
Wolff (Germany). We welcome back our old friends – Cliff Bestall,
Rehad Desai, Jo Menell, Riaan Hendricks and Omelga Mthiyane to
the Festival, and the rest of the local fraternity exhibiting their films
this year.We are excited at the emergence of a new independent theatre The Bioscope, in Joburg, and are hosting a ‘Satellite’ Festival there.
We wish to thank the National Film and Video Foundation, for upholding
their mission and vision to support local film festivals, and for remaining the sole principal funder of Encounters. Our Festival
is further made possible by various funders, partners and friends
whose logos are on our sponsorship page.
Thanks to the Encounters team: Nazeer Ahmed, Nodi Murphy, Steven Markovitz, Carol de Vos, Nololo Lange, Out In Africa ; our numerous,
generous volunteers, Twoshoes Design, and everyone else that took
a pay-cut.
It’s all about documentaries now for the next 17 days, so sit back and laugh, be provoked, excited, challenged and moved… and then
come back for more!
Last but not least — the Festival hang out space is La Playa — they are offering a 20% discount on food and drinks to all Film Festival
patrons who can produce a valid ticket and you can smoke on their
balcony !
Mandisa Zitha — Festival Director
