After having sold out shows on its first five nights, the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival has added five additional screenings to its programme.
On Saturday 25 June 2011 there will now be additional screenings of Glitterboys and Ganglands (4pm) and Whatever Happened to Robert Mugabe? (4.15pm), while on Sunday 26 June, there will be additional screenings of Mama Goema: The Cape Town Beat in Five Movements with Once Upon a Day: Brenda Fassie at 2pm; Imam and I at 3:45pm; and Forerunners: South Africa’s New Black Middleclass at 4pm. All additional screenings will be held at Nu Metro V& Waterfront in Cape Town.
This follows sold out screenings of Robert Mugabe: What Happened? on 9 and 13 June 2011; Glitterboys and Ganglands on 10 and 12 June 2011; From B-Boys to Being Men and Zip Zap: A Social Circus on 11 June 2011; Mama Goema: The Cape Town Beat in Five Movements and Once Upon a Day: Brenda Fassie on 11 June 2011; Porselynnkas Dokiementer on 12 June 2011; and Inside Job on 15 June 2011.
In addition, a number of upcoming screenings are also sold out, including Forerunners (16 June 2011), Imam and I (18 and 23 June 2011) and Glitterboys and Ganglands (26 June 2011).
Opening up the world to South Africans each year, Encounters is widely acclaimed as Africa’s most prestigious documentary festival. This year’s selection features 37 films from 14 countries and five continents, including 11 world premieres, 19 South African films and 17 international films.
“The audience response has been extraordinary,’ says festival director Mandisa Zitha. “We’ve had people pleading for extra screenings on Twitter. We’ve also been very happy with the way the festival has encouraged debate after the screenings, as well as in the media on important topics like Zimbabwe, nationalisation and gay rights.’
A number of international filmmakers are taking part in panel discussions and Q&As after their films. For example:
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Friday, 24 June, 8:30pm, Nu Metro V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Director Goran Hugo Olsson will host a Q&A about his chronicle of the civil rights struggle in America, which features activists like Miriam Makeba’s husband Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis and The Black Panthers alongside contemporary music icons like Erykah Badu and Talib Kweli. The film won The World Documentary Editing Award at Sundance in 2011.
G-Spotting Screening & Panel
Friday, 17 June, 6pm, Nu Metro V&A Waterfront, Cape to the wn
How, in 2011, can there still be myths around female sexuality? Director
Segolene Hanotaux will discuss her film about the illusive and elusive search for the G-spot with author and gender activist Melanie Judge. Columnist and comedian Marianne Thamm will moderate a second discussion on Saturday 25 June 2011 at the same venue with sexologist and radio personality Dr. Eve and tantric sex teacher Jonti Searll.
David Wants to Fly Q&A
Saturday, 18 June, 8:15pm, Nu Metro V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Monday, 20 June, 8pm, Nu Metro Hyde Park, JHB
David Sieveking is a young German filmmaker, who was drawn into transcendental meditation by his idol, David Lynch, but stumbled on an outrageous global fraud stretching from the Beatles to the Himalayas. He’ll host a Q&A after his film, a Lynch-like detective story which is further proof that real life is more bizarre than fiction.
Our Daily Poison Screening & Panel
Thursday, 23 June, 8:15pm, Nu Metro V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Marie-Monique Robin’s documentary is an eye-opening investigation into the terrifying amounts of chemicals in our food. She asks important questions like who really sets the Allowed Daily Intake and who regulates the Maximum Residue Levels, finding answers that will both surprise and shock. Martin Welz, the founding editor of investigative magazine Noseweek, will moderate a discussion with Professor Leslie London, who has published widely in the field of pesticide hazards, and anti-GM activist Glenn Ashton, the founder of SafeAge.
Encounters runs until 26 June 2011 at Nu Metro V&A Waterfront and at Nu Metro Hyde Park and The Bioscope in Johannesburg. Book through www.numetro.co.za. or www.thebioscope.co.za.
