Five short documentary films about love, made by filmmakers from Malawi, DRC, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, have been produced as part of a workshop and production platform created by the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, the Jan Vrijman Fund of IDFA and public broadcaster SABC.
Leonard Retel Helmrich and Brian Tilley supported and mentored the five filmmakers – Joanne Levitan, Mali Kambandu, Dorothy Meck-Chimbuya, Makela Pululu and Villant Virginia Ndasowa.
The five completed films are about love lost and reaching closure, negotiating gender roles and tying the knot in modern-day Zambia, Zimbabwe’s most iconic, traditional instrument, the Mbira, love on the run and reunited and the thrills and challenges of falling in love in a foreign country.
Encounters provides the platform to release and market the filmmakers and their shorts continentally.
All films will screen at the Cape Town leg of Encounters on Wednesday, 9 July at 8:30pm and a Q&A session will take place on Sunda, 13 July at 6:15pm. Venue: Nu Metro, V& Waterfront.
Dear Morris (South Africa 2008 12min Director: Joanne Levitan)
For nine years Levitan had an intense relationship with a pen-pal named Morris. When, finally, she flew to America to meet him for the first time – he never appeared. She never heard from him again. Dear Morris is an intensely intimate and personal film through which Levitan tries solving the mystery of Morris and finally letting go of him.
Old-time, Long-time Love (Zambia / South Africa 2008 12min Director: Mali Kambandu)
Kambandu is scared of marriage believing that it no longer has relevance, that it may even change the nature of her loving relationship. Her boyfriend disagrees. In this film she explores why she should consider it by consulting with old couples whose marriages have lasted, and failed, and why there are still so many weddings – every weekend!!
Mbira’ My Music My Love (Zimbabwe / South Africa 2008 12min Director: Dorothy Meck-Chimbuya)
Traditional values clash with modernity, and it seems as though the younger generation has lost touch with its cultural identity. This space is being reclaimed by American-born Zimbabwean musician Chiwoniso “Chii’ Maraire, who has embraced Zimbabwean music traditions and is determined to make them appealing to the youth.
Silent Response (South Africa 2008 12min Director: Makela Pululu)
Pululu is a refugee from the DRC who lost contact with his son when in 2005 Mark walked out the door of their Sea Point flat, choosing to live on the streets. Since then Mark has written to his father asking for forgiveness and this film is Pululu’s response.
Where My Heart Belongs Malawi (South Africa 2008 12min Director: Villant Virginia Ndasowa)
Jen, a Briton, came to Malawi on holiday and finding love in the small fishing village of Chembe, on the shores of lake Malawi, was not something that she expected. Mateyu (Mathew) is a fisherman, and now Chembe is her second home. Despite all the problems they face she is determined to fit into a society that is not ready to accept her as one of their own. Only love will see her through.
Encounters is supported by: SABC, NFVF, Cape Film Commission, Western Cape Government, Jan Vrijman/IDFA, Africalia, Gauteng Film Commission, Goethe Institut, French Embassy, Tempest, US Consulate, British Council, Holland Film,
The Times, Nu Metro, Exclusive Books.
