Films produced by filmmakers from 15 countries will compete for awards at this year’s Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). The festival’s jury is drawn from 8 countries, and a total sum of R250 000 in awards is up for grabs across the various competition categories.
The nine feature films that will compete for Best Feature Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor and Best Actress are:
- BANEL & ADAMA by Ramata-Toulaye Sy (France, Senegal, Mali)
- JORAM by Devashish Makhija (India)
- OMEN by Baloji (Belgium, Netherlands, The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, France, South Africa)
- RICEBOY SLEEPS by Anthony Shim (Canada)
- RUNS IN THE FAMILY by Ian Gabriel (South Africa)
- SIRA by Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso)
- SLOW by Marija Kavtaradze (Lithuania)
- THE BURDENED by Amr Gamal (Yemen)
- TOTEM by Lila Avilés (Mexico)
The winners for awards will be selected by an international jury comprising of Jean Marie Teno (Cameroon / France), Lisa Aziz (South Africa), and Lesedi Moche (South Africa).
South African and African features that have been officially selected for this year’s programme will all be eligible for the Best South African Feature and Best African Feature awards categories.
All documentaries, short films and student films will be eligible for the Best South African Documentary, Best African Documentary, Best South African Short Film, Best African Short, Best South African Student Film and Best African Student Film. The film that wins the Best Documentary Award will qualify for the Oscars. The jurors for the documentary awards are Kossa Lelly Anite-Gbouhi (Togo), Omelga Mthiyane (South Africa) and Sarah Dawson (South Africa).
The short films will be adjudicated by Akona Matyila (South Africa), Aliaa Talaat (Egypt) and Melissa Adeyemo (USA). The jury for student films is comprised of Karemangingo Ishimwe (Rwanda), Marc Nadal (Spain) and Shoki Joy Nkgapele (South Africa). Amnesty International will present the Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award.
Award winners will be announced on Saturday, 29 July 2023. The Durban International Film Festival takes place from 20 – 30 July. The full programme is available at ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za. Bookings can be made at cinecentre.co.za.
