Having to adapt to the new normal, the 2020 Joburg film festival is back. Organizers announced that the Festival would be staged as a two-day event on the 28th and 29th of November.
Usually staged as a six-day event, the two-day festival will feature a limited film selection. Above all focus on development workshops adds to the program.
This year, the Festival will feature three specially curated films. With the public having the opportunity to attend screenings.
The chosen films are:
Film 1 – This Is Not A Burial It’s A Resurrection (2019) {Opening film}
Director: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Country: South Africa
Duration: 120 minutes
Amongst the mountains of landlocked Lesotho, an 80-year-old widow winds up her earthly affairs. She makes arrangements for her burial and prepares to die. As a result of her village under threat of being forced to resettle, her will to live is reignited. Mantoa’s legend is forged and made eternal in the final dramatic moments of her life.
Film 2 – There’s Power In The Collar (2020)
Director: Lodi Matsetela and Vincent Moloi
Country: Botswana
Duration: 175 minutes
As Botswana awaits a possible landmark judgment from its high court, seeking to decriminalize same-sex relations. 27-year-old Chantel, a lesbian theologian and a queer rights activist, sets off on a journey to getting ordained as a reverend in Botswana’s religiously conservative and homophobic society.
Film 3 – Beyond Moving (2019)
Director: Vikram Dasgupta
Country: Canada/South Africa
Duration: 84 minutes
Beyond Moving is a heartbreaking tale of the things we sacrifice for art. As young Siphe November leaves his small township in South Africa to follow his dreams at Canada’s National Ballet School, he begins a remarkable journey. The viewer will certainly experience deeply personal pulses of family, prejudice, expectation, loss, and resilience that beat beneath the surface of a beautiful and demanding art form.
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