Festival:
The 21st Encounters: South African International Documentary Festival
Dates:
June 6-16
About:
Approximately 30 nonfiction features screen in Cape Town and Johannesburg for Africa’s largest documentary event.
THE SPACE
Among the South African productions/co-productions at the event are several that address the country’s apartheid past, including: Catherine Meyburgh and Richard Pakleppa’s
DYING FOR GOLD, on the influence of the mining industry in apartheid-era South Africa; Enver Samuel’s
SOMEONE TO BLAME, which follows the re-opened case of the suspicious 1971 death of an anti-apartheid activist; Mark Street and Dan Poole’s
THE SPACE, on the development of an artistic space of resistance during apartheid; and Dali Tambo’s
OR TAMBO, on the influential South African political leader.
JOZI GOLD
Other South African work includes: Paul Yule’s
AMERICANS, MONGRELS & FUNKY JUNKIES, on cult classic national documentary director Jo Menell; Sylvia Vollenhoven and Fredrik Gertten’s
JOZI GOLD, on the environmental hazards of South Africa’s mining industry; Fanny Tsimong’s
MY CULTURE MY MUSIC, which features local artists reflecting on the importance and power of music; Susan Scott’s
STROOP, an investigation into rhino poaching; gugulethu’s
ZULU RETURN, which follows hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa back to South Africa as he confronts serious criminal allegations; and Sara CF de Gouveia’s
THE SOUND OF MASKS, which explores the history of Mozambique through the country’s masked dance tradition.
what (not) to doc 