The Buzz at Durban Int ’ l Film Festival
by JOHN HOPEWELL
Inevitably , the ban slapped on opening night film “ Of Good Report ” by the South African Film and Publication Board overshadowed the 34th Durban Festival ’ s get-go .
But , as South Africa ’ s industry mobilizes opposition to what it slams as censorship , other events point up both recent achievements and residual road-bumps confronting movie production in South Africa and Africa at large .
One of SA ’ s biggest movie challenges remains distribution and exhibition , said Durban Festival manager Peter Machen , reviewing the fest ’ s frantic early stretches .
Over Durban ’ s first four days , Andrew Mudge ’ s “ The Forgotten Kingdom ,” about a man who finds his place in the world in his village of youth , Nick Reding ’ s Kenya-set “ It ’ s Us ,” a pro-peace movement movie combining theatre and on-location fiction , and seven-part docu omnibus “ African Metropolis ,” execproduced by Steven Markovitz , feature among African movies which have played to full houses in Durban .
Going forward , South African 3D animated feature “ Khumba ,” Triggerfish Animation Studios ’ followup to “ Adventures in Zambezia ,” looks set to be one of the event movies at this year ’ s confab ; Harmony Korine ’ s “ Spring Breakers ” is also sparking buzz .
Movies which sell out at the Durban Festival cut three ways these days , said Machen : International titles with big names , whether cast or directors , such as , in 2013 , Bernardo Bertolucci ’ s teenangst drama “ Me and You ”; cult items : Sebastian Hoffman ’ s “ Halley ” and Eduardo Villanueva ’ s “ Penumbra ,” both from Mexico , and Sundance player “ Interior . Leather Bar ”; and breakout local titles .
Some South African movies now see robust theatrical play abroad . Machen cites the case of “ Adventures in Zambezia 3D ,” which grossed $ 24.9 million worldwide through June , with France , where Metropolitan releases Aug . 14 , Spain , most of Latin America and China yet to open .
Results make “ Zambezia ” the highest-grossing South African films since 1985 ’ s “ The Gods Must Be Crazy .”
The big question for many other African movies at Durban , is , however , what happens after their upbeat Durban Fest play .
“ One of the great challenges for African cinema is we just don ’ t have many cinema theatres ,” Machen told Variety Monday .
Those that do exist , moreover , trend towards screening mainstream Hollywood blockbusters : Durban ’ s Ekhaya Multi Arts Center is one of its only hardtops not built in a shopping centre .
This poses challenges . Machen cited the case of Reding ’ s “ It ’ s Me .” “ This is the kind of movie where the audience correlates close to its characters ,” he said .
“ We have to have films like this seen not just at a festival but over a continent , to screen films like this at schools in Durban ’ s KwaZulu-Natal province , to make people more accepting and understanding of how violence always has an impact .” Machen is sanguine , however , about two factors . In emerging countries , “ audiences around the world have in the past expected their films to be inferior . But the quality of South African films has improved greatly over recent years . So , in the last year or two , that perception is changing . It used to be difficult to get people to attend locally produced films at the Durban Festival . Now , they can be among the most sought-out titles .”
Also , cinema theatre digitalization facilitates a trend towards smaller , even mobile theatres , Machen argued .
“ There ’ s a lot of embryonic moves towards small cinemas in the townships , small cultural centres .”
Exhibition in Africa came under analysis at a Durban Festival African Focus panel , where John Eschenburg talked about his ReaGile project to bring cinema to South Africa townships and Federico Oliveiri presented Kenya ’ s Slum Film Festival .
Distribution , exhibition of South African films remains challenging , but , Machen predicted , in the mid-term ,“ there will be more people watching films in South Africa .”.
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