THE 35th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) kicks off tonight with the world premier of Hard to Get that will be shown at 7pm at Suncoast’s Supernova Theatre. The festival runs until Sunday, 27 July and has an exciting line up of 69 feature films, 60 documentaries, 57 short films and 19 surf films that will be screened at various venues around Durban.
The festival once again will focus on various themes, the first being South African. Films such as Hard to Get, Cold Harbour, Between Friends, Hear Me Move, Love the One you Love are amongst the much anticipated movies that will be screened. Another focus is Africa itself with films that, according to the organisers, Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, will be creative and politically bold.
The special focus for this year is the 20 Years of Freedom and Democracy. This year’s programme boasts “a generous spread of documentaries, both from home and abroad, which celebrates, explores and interrogates the progress that South Africa has made as a country over the last two decades,” the CCA said. Other focuses of the festival include UK, World, Gender and Sexuality, Documentaries, Wavescape (cinema about surfing) and Architecture. For only the second time, this annual festival will also have a Wild Talk section that encompass environmentally and wildlife-focused films.
Also appearing for the second time only are The Films That Made Me. Five films will be screened for this section and each is an important film that influences the work of acclaimed South African director, Khalo Matabane. He will hold a discussion about the films’ importance after each screening. These five films include A Short Film About Killing and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
Full programmes are available from Gateway’s Cinema Nouvou (near the Barnyard Theatre) and online at www.durbanfilmfest.co.za
Watch the trailer of the movie Hard to Get here:
