Durban International Film Festival features 10 children’s films

NOW in its 42nd year, the Durban International Festival (DIFF), which officially opened on July 22, runs until August 1.  The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) is hosting the festival which screens selected films and seminars, all virtually.

Feature programmer Firdoze Bulbulia, who is also the director of The Nelson Mandela Children’s Film Festival, curated a children’s film programme for DIFF consisting of 10 films selected explicitly for the young viewers.

“We are delighted to be celebrating and commemorating Mandela‘s legacy and to continue to use his work to inspire the next generation. We believe that film is a unique medium that can entertain, educate and inform. We have films and participants from South Africa, India, Poland, The Netherlands, Iran, Germany, the USA, Argentina, Egypt, Serbia and France. The festival, therefore, acts as a platform for empowering young South Africans to participate in the global dialogue on film and media,” said Bulbulia.

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The indie feature film “The Eagle’s Nest” by Cameroonian-British director Olivier Assoua opened the festival on Thursday, July 22. 

Ahead of the film marketing manager of the festival, Marlyn Ntsele, said: “I kept on thinking about the knocks that the film industry had to take and how the film industry showed their resilience throughout this pandemic. I believe DIFF owes it to those filmmakers to keep going, as film festivals play an essential role in the value chain,” she said.

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Carol Coetzee, CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission said: “It is an honour for the KZN Film Commission to be part of the 42nd DIFF. We wish to congratulate the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the festival team to continue to deliver during these trying times.”

Aside from being a sponsor of the festival, The KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission is presenting various workshops as part of the Isiphethu programme taking place from 26 to 30 July.

The entire programme is accessible via www.durbanfilmfest.com. All workshops and seminars taking place between July 26 and 30 are accessible for free through Zoom and streamed live on Facebook. Find the entire programme and register via ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za.