For the first time South Africa will have an official presence at Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival that runs in Toronto, Canada from 28 April to 8 May. The South African delegation will be led by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and includes four representatives from the Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA) – Lauren Groenewald, David Forbes, Ryley Grunenwald and Bonny Hajj.
According to DFA co-chair Lauren Groenewald, the DFA delegation is a direct result of the Association’s treasurer, Pascal Schmitz, making contact with Hot Docs earlier this year. Schmitz and a DFA team then met with the NFVF to ask for the support.
“The DFA subsequently approached its membership to apply independently to the NFVF for support to attend Hot Docs,’ explains Groenewald, who is co-ordinating the DFA delegation. “We hope to build relationships with similar industry bodies at Hot Docs as we’ll meet up with distributors and other players. We have been offered a page in the Hot Docs Industry Guide to profile the DFA and our films are included in the Digital Doc Shop.’
Two members of the DFA delegation will sit on a panel on the state of documentary filmmaking and co-production in South Africa. The South African delegation will participate in Hot Docs’ International Co-production Day on 2 May.
All four DFA delegates will also attend the event in their personal capacity. Groenewald will represent her company Plexus Films and Afrikaaps, a Plexus Films / Glass House NL co-production, will be profiled at the on-line Doc Shop. Other projects Groenewald is taking to Hot Docs are King Naki, directed by Tim Wege and produced by Miki Redelinghuys; I Afrikaner, a Plexus Films/ Big World Cinema co-production directed by Annalet Steenkamp and Ghoema, a film by Sara Goveia, Angela Ramirez and Calum MacNaughton.
Shadow Films’ David Forbes’ 2010 Durban International Film Festival-winning The Cradock Four will be featured at the Hot Docs Doc Shop. “I’m also arranging a private screening of the film in Toronto. On the distribution side I will represent new documentary films including: Uprising of Hangberg (Dylan Vally and Aryan Kaganof), Mandela: Prisoner to President (Peter Davis), The Battle for Johannesburg (Rehad Desai) and American Foulbrood (Carlos Francisco), among others.’
Forbes will present two of his own projects, Marry-Ann (the story of a young girl’s journey to womanhood during South Africa’s transition to democracy, shot over 18 years) and the one hour documentary, Glenmore.
Bonny Hajj will be representing her company Bonny Isaacs Productions and her film, Instruments of God, which is currently in pre-production with the NFVF.
“The project is the result of two years of research and development and takes a hard look into drug addiction and a little known African herbal cure, which offers opiate addicts a 98% success rate with no withdrawals,’ explains Hajj.
Ryley Grunenwald will be scouting for an international sales agent for The Dawn of a New Day, about a South African surgeon who wants to join a hospital ship providing free surgeries to the poor. The documentary is supported by the NFVF, the Gauteng Film Commission and won Best Pitch at the 2010 Miradasdoc Market in Tenerife.
Another South African attending Hot Docs is Simon Taylor, who will look to source international financing and sales partners for Periphery’s film Progress, as well as a project in development, Bread and Water.
NFVF head of Production and Development Clarence Hamilton will be one of three NFVF delegates attending Hot Docs. “Our main purpose will be to try to assess the suitability of the festival as a potential international market for South African content. We are committed to improving the potential and exposure of South African documentaries.’
