After five years, Mandisa Zitha ends her term as the festival director of the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. Zitha leaves on a high note, after last month’s festival sold out 12 different films; grew overall attendance by 10%; and established new partnerships with The Fugard Theatre and Al Jazeera English.
“Under her leadership, Encounters’ firmly established itself as Africa’s premier documentary film festival,’ says Nodi Murphy, one of Encounters’ co-founders. “She has played a huge role in the development of the documentary industry in South Africa and will be sorely missed.’
During her time as festival director, Mandisa acted as an ambassador for documentary films in general and the South African film industry in particular, both locally and internationally. She was recognised in the Mail and Guardian: Top 100 Women 2011 for the Arts and Culture Sector; spoke at The 2007 International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in Greece; and sat on the Main Jury at the 2010 Tempo Documentary Festival in Sweden and on the 2010 BBC MyWorld Competition Jury.
Mandisa helped set up Encounters’ partnership with Sichuan TV Festival in China, which saw seven local documentaries screened and two local filmmakers hosted in China; Encounters’ partnership with the French Embassy, where she coordinated the first Africadoc SA residency, a writing residency designed for the development of African documentary cinema; and Encounters’ 2012 partnership with Al Jazeera English, which saw 20 African documentaries pitch to the global broadcaster.
Lesedi Moche is the new festival director. Born in Germany and raised in Zambia, Canada, South Africa and Iraq, she’s worked as a production manager on acclaimed projects like Behind The Rainbow, Africa Shorts and produced Late Night With Kgomotso. She’s also been a juror for The International Emmy Awards and The South African Film and Television Awards.
Steven Markovitz, Encounters’ co-founder, says: “Lesedi has a great deal of industry experience, with a sharp mind and great taste in films. She brings important production experience to the team and I am confident that she will continue the great work that Mandisa has done.’
