Watch, Speak, Act: Taking Films To the People

The Tri Continental Film Festival takes a very different shape in its 13th year. Happening between August and November, we will be breaking out of shopping malls and travelling across the country to screen films in nine urban centres.

We've screened at Cinema Nouveau in Cape Town and Johannesburg for the last twelve years during which time we've developed loyal audience support. This year we want to try something different that is more in line with social impact documentaries. We want to reach more people by taking the films to where locals can walk to screenings, and to cities that have never experienced the festival. (Anita Khanna, Festival Director)

Starting off with a four day run at the Bioscope Independent Cinema, Hillbrow Theatre and youth clubs, from August 19th, the festival then travels to Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban, Mbombela and Ermelo.

The festival returns to Johannesburg and Pretoria for a second run from October 14, when films will be shown in multiple popular alternative venues, in some cases outdoors.

We've noticed a growing trend in Johannesburg for people to gather in places like Maboneng, 27 Boxes in Melville and The Sheds in Newtown. So we're branching out to take films to these new social spots. We also have a focus on youth and will be having large screenings in township youth centres in several places across the country. (Nhlanhla Ndaba, Festival Co-Director)

The selection this year is made up of 11 feature length social impact documentaries. The line up includes 4 South African premieres and 1 World premiere:

The March of the White Elephants (Craig Tanner, SA, 2015) World premiere

Yes Men are Revolting (Laura Nix, US, 2015)

Red Lines (Andrea Kalin and Oliver Lukacs, US, 2014) SA premiere

Incorruptible (E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Senegal/US, 2015) SA premiere

Dreamcatcher (Kim Longinotto, UK/US 2015) SA premiere

Agora: From Democracy to the Market (Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Greece/Germany, 2015) SA premiere

Parole Camp (Maanda Ntsandeni, SA, 2015)

CitizenFour (Laura Poitras, US, 2014)

The Shore Break (Ryley Grunenwald, SA 2015)

African Pride (Laura Fletcher, SA, 2014)

Democrats (Camilla Nielsson, Denmark, 2014)

The TCFF team has strong views about involving organisations and social movements that want to use films of social importance to build support for their causes. A partnership with the Right 2 Know Campaign to show CitizenFour, the Oscar winning film about Edward Snowden, will include a discussion on South African state security and intelligence, including an update on the Secrecy Bill and its implications for ordinary South Africans.

We are blown away by the South African docs in the selection this year. We live in a country that is the result of an unjust society that was inherited by the legacy of the past. Maanda's film, Parole Camp, takes us to the root cause of crime, which is poverty, fuelled by high levels of drug abuse and absent parents. It's an exceptional inside view into what becomes of a society that neglects its young people. It invites us to explore and challenge the roots of the problem. (Nhlanhla Ndaba, Festival Co-Director)

In recent years, the festival has included a theme of tackling gender inequality. Kim Longinotto's new film, Dreamcatcher, will screen for the first time in Africa at TCFF. Longinotto's women focused films have the ability to inspire all those fighting women's oppression. Dreamcatcher, the tale of a sex worker turned activist, is no exception.

For further information contact:

Nhlanhla Ndaba 083 3745666

Anita Khanna 083 357 5904

anita@uhuruproductions.co.za

www.tcff.org.za

Festival start dates:

Johannesburg 19 August

Grahamstown 30 August (closed screenings)

Port Elizabeth 14 September

Cape Town 7 October

JHB & Pretoria 14 October

Durban 21 October

Mbombela 4 November

Ermelo 6 November

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