South African filmmakers Sara Blecher and David Forbes have just returned from screening their films in Moscow in the Russian Federation. The four-day festival of South African films from 17 to 20 May was the third festival organised by the South African Embassy in Moscow, but the first time filmmakers were invited as guests.
Screened at the oldest cinema in Moscow, the famous Khudozhestvenny “artistic cinema’ hall (a 10-minute walk from the Kremlin), nine films were shown over four days.
The festival opened with Jann Turner’s comedy White Wedding, which drew an audience of more than 550 people and, according to the cinema, was the largest audience ever for a foreign language film.
At a press conference before the opening cocktail party on 17 May, SA Ambassador Mandisi Mpahlwa, (the former minister of trade and industry who signed off on the Film and Television Production Incentive scheme), said the festival was “an opportunity to promote cultural co-operation and people-to-people ties between South Africa and its strategic and BRICS partner, the Russian Federation.’
Russian news agency TASS described the festival thus: “The feature films, documentaries and short films will provide an insight into South Africa’s rich cultural and linguistic diversity, as well as political history and contemporary socio-economic conditions.’
Ambassador Mpahlwa introduced Blecher and Forbes, expressing his hope that their numerous meetings in Moscow would result in an exchange of movies or possible commercial deals. The filmmakers then each gave a short introduction of their work, and answered questions.
“I hope that the festival will become a bright occasion for continuing the dialogue between our peoples and cultures, and also that it will make it possible to learn more about each other’, said Blecher, who presented two films about life after apartheid. Its heroes – the youth – for whom the surfing on the roofs of trains was an expression of social reality.
Ambassador Mpahlwa noted: “We hope the festival . . . will become the basis for the development and strengthening of further cultural collaboration between the peoples of Republic of South Africa and Russia.’
“Since South Africa joined the BRICS group of countries, our embassy has noted a significant increase in interest in South Africa, not only by the Russian government and business, but also by a wider Russian audience. This film festival is a unique possibility to showcase the rich cultural variety of our country, its stormy history and our passage to peaceful democracy, based on the respect of human rights’.
Both Forbes and Blecher said their screenings had gone very well, with many interesting questions being asked afterwards. The films were each screened in their own languages, sometimes with subtitles, or with a translator reading a commentary in Russian. The films were widely listed in local media, including Nat Geo Russia, Time Out Russia, student and other mass media.
Other films shown were: Faith Like Potatoes director Regardt van den Berg (2006), Nothing But The Truth by director John Kani (2008), Otelo Burning (2011) and Surfing Soweto (2010) by director Sara Blecher, Mama Africa (2011) by director Mick Kaurismki, The Cradock Four by director David Forbes (2010), An Old Wive’s Tale by director Dumisani Phakati and Dirty Laundry by director Steven Abbott.
