The Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA), with the support of the Department
of Trade and Industry (the dti), is sending a team of 19 documentary filmmakers to
the 2013 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), which runs from
20 November to 1 December.
Molatelo Mainetje is one of the emerging documentary filmmakers making her debut
at IDFA. She says: “Being selected as part of the South African delegation to this
year’s IDFA is a life-changing experience.”
Adds Mariza Matshaya, local documentary director: “I believe international festivals
such as IDFA opens doors for our content to a much wider audience. Taking, for
instance, a project like Marikana: A Tale of Invisible Women to international
broadcasters, sales agents and co-production partners creates the opportunity to
share authentic South African stories with universal appeal.’
Some of the South African films expected to screen at IDFA are The Devil’s Lair (Riaan
Hendricks and Neil Brandt); An Inconsolable Memory (Aryan Kaganof); A Letter to
Nelson Mandela (Khalo Matabane); I, Afrikaner (Joanna Higgs and Annalet
Steenkamp); and Voices of El Alto (Benjamin and Jussi Oroza).
The festival also features Docs for Sale which has, since its establishment in 1996,
developed into one of the world’s premiere markets for documentary cinema. Every
year, more than 250 television buyers, sales agents, distributors and festival
programmers convene at IDFA to watch a selection of the latest and best
documentaries available to the international market.
Some of the South African films submitted at this year’s Docs for Sale are I, Afrikaner;
James Walsh’s Baisikeli; Molatelo Mainetje’s A Helping Hand; Tarryn Crosssman’s
Fatherland; and Teboho Pietersen’s Boys Don’t Cry.
