Brazilian director Joel Zito Araújo’s “My Friend Fela” had its World Premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam before going on to win the Paul Robeson Award for Best Film from the Diaspora at Burkina Faso’s FESPACO, the world’s pre-eminent African film festival. It explores the life of legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti from the perspective of his long-time friend Carlos Moore.
Locating Fela’s story firmly within the Black Consciousness movement, the film follows him from his first travels to London and New York – where he was confronted with his own blackness and African identity for the first time – to his ascent as one of the planet’s most acclaimed musical talents, and his eventual death in 1997. The resulting film is both a portrait of a remarkable man and a tribute to the Pan-African generation.
“The State Against Mandela and the Others” from French directors Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte was in the Official Selection of this year’s Cannes and was nominated for a Cesar, receiving acclaim for its unexpectedly refreshing take on the apartheid era’s pivotal Rivonia trial. Drawing on a treasure trove of previously inaccessible 256 hours of audio recordings, the directing duo bring the archive clips alive using heavily stylised hand-drawn visuals by the Dutch graphic artist Oerd van Cuijlenborg, whose kinetic monochrome animations morph into pure abstraction in places. It is a remarkable documentary and an inspired recycling of archival material. Weaving the reflections of those still alive into this artful fusion, the film brings emotive, enlightening perspective to a case that may be most famous for putting Mandela in prison for 27 years, but ruptured many other lives besides.
A feast of new South African films will also be screening at this year’s Encounters. Following its North American premiere at Hot Docs this May, “Dying for Gold” from directors Catherine Meyburgh and Richard Pakleppa is a devastating documentary centred on South Africa’s biggest class-action lawsuit, against the mining industry – a key force in shaping apartheid South Africa. Featuring a rich archive of footage from the colonial and apartheid eras, along with interviews with gold miners whose lives have been decimated by silicosis and tuberculosis, this forceful, vivid film clearly shows how Southern Africa’s indigenous societies were destroyed in order to mine the world’s richest deposits of gold at the cheapest possible price.
Equally as passionate is Susan Scott’s “Stroop: Journey into the Rhino Horn War”, which made headlines as South Africa’s breakout documentary of the year after winning over 17 international awards. As gripping and grueling as the best of thrillers, it follows two inexperienced female filmmakers who travel the African bush and South-East Asia in search of answers to the random slaughter of the world’s diminishing rhino population. Most recently it won the sought-after Best of Festival award as well as Best Independent or Feature Film at the International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF) in Montana this April.
Paul Yule’s tribute to a South African legend, “Americans, Mongrels & Funky Junkies – the Life of Jo Menell”, is an inspiring and affectionate tribute to a rare South African whose life of exile and global activism has aligned with many of the key moments and figures of the last 60 years. From Vietnam to Castro, from Hockney to Mandela, filmmaker Jo Menell’s exceptional capacity to be both storyteller and subject offers an unusual and brilliant perspective into the complexity of our times.
This year’s festival sees a rare screening of “Village Versus Empire” by Emmy winning South African director Mark J Kaplan. Set on Jeju Island, off the coast of the Korean Peninsula – one of the ‘Seven Wonders of Nature’, with more UNESCO Natural Heritage Sites than any single geographic location on planet earth. But, there is trouble in this paradise. Its fragile ecology and ancient shamanistic traditions are currently being devastated by the construction of a US naval base. Through the memories and actions of a range of political activists, religious leaders and artists, the film explores the interconnectedness of past, present and future and the universal relevance of a village resisting an empire.
“Zulu Return” is the intriguing debut from emerging director gugulethu. The documentary follows the fallen hip hop hero Afrika Bambaataa’s spiritual quest to South Africa – the country he spent so much of his life honouring and defending through his music and activism – as he faces the effects of abuse allegations against him in his own life.
Encounters also announced a Swiss Focus, in association with Swiss Films and the Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa Consulate General of Switzerland in Cape Town. It will include “#Female Pleasure”, Barbara Miller’s Award winning examination of the obstacles that stand in the way of female sexuality in the 21st century. Emmanuelle Antille’s “A Bright Light: Karen and the Process” is a wild and enchanting journey in the footsteps of cult singer Karen Dalton, forgotten muse of the 60s. The Focus also includes “Chris the Swiss” director Anja Kofmel’s dazzling feature debut, where she revisits the wild life and strange death of her war reporter cousin, with an innovative blend of animation and documentary.
- For the full schedule visit https://www.encounters.co.za/schedule/
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