(TCFF) - The much anticipated TRI CONTINENTAL FILM FESTIVAL is coming
to select Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau theatres this September!
The Tri Continental Film Festival (TCFF) is South Africa’s
only dedicated human rights film event and consists of films that promote
democratisation, deepens understanding, and affords those marginalised a
substantive voice, proving to be more vital than ever in our rapidly changing
world.
TCFF has played a significant role in creating a sustainable
and continually growing audience for social justice cinema over the past nine
years, through film selection that is nuanced, relevant, informative and
well-balanced, and promise to continue this tradition in 2011, with a program
that reflects global currents of change and action.
The selection of films presented this year is the result of
rigorous curation of over 500 entries. These works speak directly to the pressing
concerns of our world and the power of documentary and fiction to relay these
concerns in a compelling and powerful manner. TCFF is also pleased to present
two retrospectives; the outstanding works of Peter Wintonick and a finely
crafted selection from documentary icon Werner Herzog is presented in
conjunction with The Goethe-Institute Johannesburg.
“We are proud to present a crop of excellent films which
speak directly to this issue and will continue to do so in the coming years so
we can play our own small part in building a movement to halt the forward march
towards the end of humanity as we know it,” says Rehad Desai, the Festival Director.
Some of the TCFF 2011 titles to look out for include:
Opening Night Film:
TAC- Taking HAART, directed by Jack Lewis: (Who will be in
attendance at the Rosebank Cinema Nouveau). Between 1999 and 2010, over two
million people in South Africa died of AIDS. This was despite the existence of
Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment, known as HAART. During these years,
government sponsored AIDS denialism combined with the high price of these life
saving drugs, ensured that poor people could not get the treatment they needed.
TAC – Taking HAART provides a fly on the wall view of how outrage ignited a
movement that united people across ethnicity and class.
Climate Films:
There was once an Island directed by Briar March: Takuu
atoll, also known as ‘The Mortlocks’, is a circular group of coral islands 250
kilometres north-east of Bougainville in Papua, New Guinea. A Polynesian
community of 400 lives on Nukutoa, the atoll’s only inhabited island, and have
lived more than 1000 years. For the first time the sea levels are rising and
they are experiencing some of the first effects of climate change. Since 2006,
director, Briar March and her crew have followed Satty, Endar and Teloo - three
inhabitants of the island whose way of life and unique culture are threatened
by the encroaching ocean.
The Pipe directed by Risteard Ó Domhnaill: In a remote
corner of the west coast of Ireland sits the picturesque Broadhaven Bay.
However, this tranquil image belies the turmoil beneath, and the unique nature
of this coastline, which has sustained generations of farmers and fishermen,
has made it a target for Shell Oil as the point of landfall for its new Corrib
Gas Pipeline.
H2Oil directed by Shannon Walsh: (Who will be in attendance
in Johannesburg). Ever wonder where America gets most of its oil? If you
thought it was Saudi Arabia or Iraq you are wrong. America’s biggest oil
supplier has quickly become Canada’s oil sands. Located in the Western Canadian
region of Alberta, under pristine boreal forests, the process of oil sands
extraction uses up to 4 barrels of fresh water to produce only one barrel of
crude oil. The used water, laden with carcinogens, is dumped into leaky tailing
ponds. Downstream, the people are already paying the price for what will be one
of the largest industrial projects in history. When a local doctor raises the
alarm about clusters of rare cancers, evidence mounts for industry and
government cover-ups.
Into Eternity directed by Michael Madsen: On the far west
coast of Finland, adjacent to the country’s Olkiluoto nuclear power plant, lies
a 4 km-deep burial chamber of almost surreal dimensions and purpose: carved out
of the Finnish bedrock, “Onkalo Waste Repository” – the name means “hiding
place” – is being constructed as a tomb for all of that country’s nuclear waste
for the next 100,000 years. This disturbingly stylish and quietly haunting
documentary, explores a range of questions that nuclear energy raises about
responsibility, time and memory.
Age of Stupid directed by Franny Armstrong: The Age of
Stupid stars Pete Postlethwaite as a man living in the devastated future world
of 2055, looking at old footage and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change
when we had the chance? The production is notable for its innovative
crowd-funding financing model, as well as the Indie Screenings distribution
system, which allows anyone anywhere to screen the film. After the film’s
release in 2009 The Age of Stupid became one of the most talked-about films of
the year. It also spawned the hugely successful 10:10 campaign.
Green directed by Patrick: In an immensely moving
documentary by a filmmaker known only as Patrick, Green follows the final days
of a female orangutan of that name. The film is a visual ride that takes us
into the beauty and bio-diversity of Green’s natural environment while also
showing us the devastating destruction taking place as her forest is raided to
provide products we use routinely in our homes. As these and other tropical
forests are plundered for palm oil, tropical hardwoods and paper, this movie
calls on viewers to think about and change their consumption habits and not to
support environmentally unsustainable goods and industries.
Other Hot Films:
Go Bama-Between Hope and Dreams directed by A. Rahman Satti:
This fly-on-the-wall documentary by German filmmaker Rahman Satti captures his
personal journey from his German hometown, across America on the trail of
Obama’s 2007/8 presidential campaign. Meeting and interacting with the ordinary
people driving the campaign from the grass-roots, the film reveals how a local
movement toward political change, community involvement, and empowerment
culminated in the historical, international event of Obama’s election as the
first black president of the USA.
The Interrupters directed by Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz:
The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of former gang members
who as community mediators try to protect their Chicago communities from the
violence they once employed. It’s an unusually intimate journey into the
stubborn, persistence of violence amongst urban American youth. The
Interrupters captures a period in Chicago when it became a national symbol for
violence, besieged by high-profile incidents, most notably the brutal beating
of Derrion Albert, a Chicago High School student whose death was caught on
videotape.
The Prosecutor directed by Barry Stevens: The International
Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 to try individuals who commit the
world's most serious crimes: genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Argentinean Moreno-Ocampo was unanimously elected as the first prosecutor of
the ICC in 2003 for a term of nine years. Four situations have been publicly referred
to the ICC: Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African
Republic and Darfur, Sudan. However, the fact that the ICC has thus far only
investigated African countries and only indicted African has made some critical
of the Court’s neutrality. Award winning Canadian filmmaker Barry Stevens gains
unique and compelling access to Moreno-Ocampo during the first trials of the
ICC in 2009, asking tough questions about whether the recently formed Court is
a groundbreaking new weapon for global justice or just an idealistic dream?
The Green Wave directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi: The Green Wave
is an exceptional account of the mass protests that took place in Iran in early
2009. The documentary chronicles the mobilisation of Iranians, young and old,
demanding change in June 2009, the massive protests that took place when
President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was declared victor, and then the retaliation of
Ahmedinijad’s government against the people of Iran with unprecedented
violence, oppression and human rights violations that continue to this day.
Hunger directed by Karin Steinberger, Marcus Vetter: Five
communities around the world are given a chance to speak for themselves on the
daily struggles they face just to survive on a day-to-day basis. Their interpretations
of the causes of their poverty are accompanied by local experts and activists
who share their analysis on this widespread injustice. In Haiti, we follow the
plight of destitute farmers in the aftermath of the earthquake. In Mauritania,
we follow the harsh realities many fishermen face as their livelihood has
increasingly dwindled due to foreign fishing fleets and how thousands of
Africans attempt the perilous and often fatal journey across the sea to Europe
in search of a better life. We also see the other side of the coin as the sheer
scale of food production is brought to the fore in Brazil, where the Amazon
rainforest in being destroyed to supply tropical timber, beef, soybeans and
biofuel to developed countries.
Werner Herzog Retrospective, Land of Silence and Darkness:
A moving and unique portrait of Fini Straubinger, who lost
her sight and hearing in her youth. Now in her fifties and able to communicate
only through an elaborate alphabet “written” on the palm of the hand, Fini
travels across the country to help those dismissed as hopeless cases escaping
darkness and isolation.
This year, TCFF has the privilege to present to you more
than 25 directors from our country and the wider continent, available for media
interviews:
(To organise an interview with film makers or event
organisers contact Nhlanhla Ndaba on 083 374 5666, nhlanhla@doti.co.za or Dion Hurford on
011 334 6148, skillioso@hotmail.com)
1. Jack Lewis –
Taking HAART
2. Shannon Walsh –
H2Oil
3. Eddie Edwards –
Once Upon A Day: Brenda Fassie
4. Peter Goldsmid
& Zanele Muholi – Difficult Love
5. Femi Odugbemi –
Bariga Boy (JHB only)
6. David Valivedoo
– Voices From The Cape
7. Ramadan Suleman
– Zwelidumile (JHB only)
8. Angela Ramirez,
Callum Macnaughton, Sara Gouveia – Mama Goema
9. Peter Wintonick
(JHB only)
10. Rumbi Katedza –
The Axe & The Tree
11. Ingrid Martens -
Africa Shafted-Under One Roof (JHB only)
12. Simon Bright –
Robert Mugabe, What Happened?
13. Jezza Neumann
(Xoliswa Sithole) – Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children (JHB only)
14. Simon Wood –
Forerunners (JHB and CPT)
15. Khalid Shamis –
Imam & I (JHB and CPT)
16. Karen Waltorp,
Christian Vium – Manenberg (CPT only)
17. Tim Wege – King
Naki
18. Marius van
Niekerk – My Heart Of Darkness (JHB and CPT)
19. Jane Murago
Munene – Monica Wangu Wamwere, Unbroken Spirit
20. Sieh Mchawala –
Barefoot In Ethipoa
21. Divita Wa
Lusala, Dieudo Hamai, Kiripi Katembo Siku – Congo In Four Acts
22. Moussa Sene Absa
– The Sacrifice (Yoole) (JHB only)
23. Joao Ribeiro –
The Last Flight Of The Flamingo
24. Lee Daniels –
Precious
25. Philip Rizk,
Jasmina Metwaly – Egyptian Shorts
26. Teddy Matera –
Stay With Me
27. Kitso Lelliot –
The Tailored Suit
28. Rolie Nikiwe –
Umshato/ The Wedding
29. Sayeeda Clarke –
White
30. Djo Munga –
Congo In Four Acts
31. Lisa Cortes –
Precious (JHB and CPT)
32. Philip Rizk –
Egyptian Shorts
The TRI CONTINENTAL FILM FESTIVAL will be screened at the
following Ster-Kinekor venues:
* Cinema Nouveau
Rosebank 9 to 18 September 2011
* Ster–Kinekor
Maponya Mall 9 to 14 September 2011
* Cinema Nouveau
V&A Waterfront 16 to 23 September 2011
* Cinema Nouveau
Brooklyn Mall 22 to 28 September 2011
For more information on these exciting Ster-Kinekor and
Cinema Nouveau screenings, or to book your seats online visit: www.sterkinekor.com
Call Ticketline 082 16789 (value added service rates apply)
or book in cinema at the self-service terminals (SSTs) or Box Offices. Special
rates apply for Discovery Vitality, Edgars and Jet Club Members.
Follow Ster-Kinekor on Facebook, Twitter @SK Theatres or
visit the Ster-Kinekor Mobi-site www.mobile.sterkinekor.com
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