Public broadcaster SABC and the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival (Johannesburg: Nu Metro Hyde Park 13 – 22 July and Cape Town: Nu Metro V&A Waterfront 20 July – 5 August) are pleased to present a number of Master Classes conducted by award-winning international filmmakers who are guests of the Festival.
Screening 51 films from all over the world, Encounters is a very social event and thus the the perfect place to network with South African and international filmmakers. For screening programme visit www.encounters.co.za.
MASTER CLASSES
DITSI CAROLINO: JHB Sat 21 July 9.30am–12pm / CT Sun 22 July 2pm–4.30pm
Carolino, an award-winning filmmaker, will share her experiences as an independent filmmaker in another developing country, talking about access and ethics – where to draw the line, what and who to expose when focusing on the problems in her country – and how to source funds and find an audience for her films.
As an NGO worker, Carolino documented human rights issues in Mindanao, Philippines with photographs and slideshows. Since 1991 she has been directing award-winning documentaries, among them “Minsan Lang Sita Bata’, which won a Gold Medal and the Grand Award for Documentary at New York Festival 1998 and the Grand Prix Toutes Categories at the Brussels Independent Film Festival in the same year. Her film “Bunso’ screened at Encounters 2005. “Life on the Tracks’ is the result of a two-year study grant at the National Film and Television School in England.
JIHAN EL-TAHRI: JHB Sun 15 July 2pm–4.30pm / CT Sun 22 July 9.30am–12pm
Emmy-nominated El-Tahri will talk about the challenges African filmmakers face in making heritage films that require the use of archive material; and how to find creative and cost-effective solutions to the problem of expensive archives housed outside of the African Continent. Her latest film “Cuba: An African Odyssey’ screens at the Festival.
Lebanon born El-Tahri is a French and Egyptian national. She holds an MA in Political Science from the American University of Cairo. Between 1984 and 1990 she worked as a news agency correspondent, TV researcher, and associate producer in Tunisia and Egypt, covering Middle East politics. In 1990 she began directing and producing documentaries for French television, and for the BBC since 1995. Her Emmy-nominated film, “The House of Saud’, screened at Encounters in 2004.
EVA MULVAD: JHB Thu 19 July 6.30pm–9pm / CT Sat 21 July 9.30am–12pm
Mulvad, winner of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2007 Silver Wolf Award, will talk about the differences of filming at “home’ and “abroad’ and of the challenges when faced with a difference in culture, language and religion and cultural sensitivity, what to put in and what to leave out.
Danish born Mulvad worked as a writer and journalist before entering the National Film School of Denmark, where she made numerous documentaries before graduating in 2001. In 2006 she won WIFT (Women in Film and TV) award for young film talents for the film The Golden Mermaid. Her latest film, “Enemies of Happiness’ won the Silver Wolf Award (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2006) and the World Cinema Jury Prize at Sundance 2006, and a Special Mention at Silver Docs 2007.
LEONARD RETEL HELMRICH: JHB Sat 14 July 9.30am–12pm / CT Sat 21 July 2pm–4.30pm
For many years Retel Helmrich, an award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer, has been documenting ordinary Indonesian people’s stories, reflecting on their heritage, culture and politics. Retel Helmrich will talk about the advantages and challenges of playing the dual role of director and cinematographer. Famed for his “single shot’ takes, he will reflect on creative decisions made “in camera’.
Retel Helmrich studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy (1986) and made his first feature film “The Phoenix Mystery’ in 1990. He has won many international film awards and has lectured widely on his renowned “single shot cinema’. His film “The Shape of the Moon’ (2004), won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, Sundance 2005, and the Joris Ivens Best Documentary Award, IDFA 2004
THOMAS WALLNER: JHB Sat 21 July 2pm–4.30pm / CT Tuesday 24 July 6.30pm–9pm
Documentary films are not just the result of filming an “interesting’ subject. Successful documentaries are carefully crafted pieces of non-fiction storytelling. Using examples of films he has written as a case study, Emmy Award-winning writer / producer Wallner will share how to conceive ideas, structure stories, conduct research and interviews, write narration, and how to adapt the script to the resulting footage. Wallner is the writer of “Beethoven’s Hair’.
Wallner is an Emmy award-winning producer and writer with a 20 year history in interactive media, documentary film and television production. Currently, among other things, Wallner is directing an HD feature documentary on the Tropicana Cabaret in Havana, commissioned by the Sundance Channel, ARTE France and the Canadian Documentary Channel. He is also the recipient of five Gemini nominations and two Gemini awards.
For further information about the Master Classes please contact:
Teboho Pietersen on 011 726 2828 or 073 267 5424 or teboho.encounters@curious.co.za.
