Encounters to wow SA

2009-07-02 14:54

Duncan Alfreds

Cape Town - The Encounters Documentary Film festival is the perfect platform for social commentary and dialogue, according to festival director Mandisa Zitha.

"The purpose is to generate social commentary," Zitha told News24. "We had a radio discussion about conscription and people were very passionate about it. They're happy to have a platform to air their views."

She said that cinema is not politically motivated and gives people a balanced view of a wide range of social issues, but conceded that some movies advanced the view of a director.

"A good example is Defamation (directed by Yoav Shamir) because it balances the views very carefully. The director takes all these emotional arguments and lets you make your own decision."

South African society is maturing enough to face some of the dark questions that hang on our collective conscience, she said, but added that the debate still has a long way to go.

Stumbling block

"We tried to balance the debate by inviting former army members, an MK vet and key panellists to our discussions to give a balanced view. In the past we had some emotional debates, so we're trying to keep the discussions well-organised," she added.

The festival is expensive Zitha said, adding that screening fees for movies remain the largest single stumbling block.

"We have a shopping list and often discover that we're way short of what we have to buy. This year we've got 40 films, half of them locally produced, from over 600 applications, but the challenge remains funding.

"It's difficult to get corporates to part with their cheque-books. It will take great corporates to believe in the brand - it's only going to grow."

While she applauds the growth of the commercial movie sector, she doesn't feel that it will have direct benefits for the documentary filmmakers.

"Initiatives like Dreamworld (Western Cape programme) are great, but I feel alienated from them. Those things will benefit the services sector and they're doing well anyway. I don't see how they're going to benefit documentary filmmakers."

"The problem is that local distributors don't want to distribute local documentary films because it's not a big market. Once in a while, they'll do the odd one, but that's all."

The Encounters Documentary Film Festival kicks off on July 2 and runs until July 19. All movies are showing at Waterfront Nu Metro cinemas and shows cost R33.

As far as Zitha is concerned, her top three recommended movies are: Who Killed Maggie, Rewind and Encounters at the End of the World.

- News24