Cinema audiences in Johannesburg and Cape Town will have over 50 top documentaries to choose from at the 12th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, which gets underway on 12 August in Cape Town (The Labia On Orange and NuMetro V&A Waterfront) and 18 August in Johannesburg (The Bioscope). Both legs of the festival run until 29 August.
Many of the films on the programme are award-winning tiles, while eight of the films will have their World Premieres at Encounters. Strands running through the festival are the Heritage Focus, Green Movies and the Focus on Reunion Island.
Organisers of Encounters have selected the best films that portray the South African landscape and its peoples. Young international directors present an outsider’s view of South African political history, and a look at life in the underbelly of the urban sprawl and age-old traditional rituals.
Among the South African titles are Rina Jooste’s Afrikaner, Afrikaan, Lesedi Mogoatlhe’s Earthchild, Odette Geldenhuys’ Here Be Dragons, Rehad Desai’s The Battle for Johannesburg and Clifford Bestall’s The 16th Man.
For more information visit www.encounters.co.za and also join Encounters’ Facebook page to see trailers and have updates on the festival and other Encounters activities.
