Organisers of the 2011 Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) attended the recent
Cannes Film Festival and Hot Docs in Canada to source the best new feature film and
documentary titles from around the world.
DIFF festival manager Nashen Moodley and festival director Peter Rorvik attended
Cannes for the third year running. Moodley notes that the 2011 festival felt optimistic.
“There seemed to be a feeling that things were getting back to normal after the
recession. Certainly the sales agents seemed happy and lots of business was
conducted. The Official Selection was very impressive, which set the tone for a fine
festival.’
Moodley saw 17 films at Cannes and is delighted to have secured the new South African
film, Skoonheid, for DIFF as well as the Russian drama, Elena. Both films were selected
for the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.
Says Moodley “I liked Skoonheid very much. It shows the development of Oliver
Hermanus (Shirley Adams) and establishes him as bright talent on the international
circuit. Skoonheid won the Queer Palm Award.’
“Elena, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, is a murder thriller about a family in
contemporary Russia. It’s beautifully done and about loyalty and family and greed. I
couldn’t understand why this film wasn’t in the main competition at Cannes and neither
could many other people.’
There are several Cannes films that Moodley is trying to get for DIFF, such as Woody
Allen’s Midnight in Paris and the silent French film, The Artist by Michel Hazanavicius.
Moodley continues: “I loved The Artist, it’s really amazing and put a smile on my face.
I’m also hoping to get the Dardenne Brothers’ new film, The Kid With a Bike. This is a
very humane, beautiful piece of cinema about a little boy whose father has abandoned
him, a fact the boy refuses to accept.
“My favourite film at Cannes was Le Havre (The Harbour) by Finnish filmmaker Aki
Kaurismaki. It’s a wonderfully funny but deeply humane film about a shoe shiner in a
little seaside town who decides to save a young African refugee from deportation. Le
Havre was in official competition but inexplicably did not win any awards.’
Moodley is working hard to secure two Iranian films for DIFF, both by filmmakers facing
six-year prison sentences in Iran. There is Good Bye by Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar
Panahi’s This is Not a Film, co-directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. The latter is a
documentary about a day in the life of a filmmaker who is not allowed to make films.
Another film of interest was the Swedish film, Play, an incredible true story of children in
Sweden, by young director Ruben Ostlund.
DIFF’s assistant manager Monica Rorvik attended Hot Docs in Toronto, Canada, where
South African filmmaker Ryley Grunenwald’s The Dawn of a New Day premiered.
“We are delighted that Ryley’s film will be one of the many fine South African
documentaries to screen at DIFF. I’m currently working on securing a number of other
top titles from Hot Docs,’ says Rorvik.
