29 June, 2017 - 08:03
The 38th edition of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is set to captivate audiences with a German Focus, which features ten gripping films by some of Germany's finest directors, a masterclass by German film industry professionals, as well as networking sessions with the cream of the international film industry crop.
Curated by Alex Moussa Sawadogo, the variety of the films on the lineup is set to keep audiences enthralled. Films such as The People vs Fritz Bauer (which relates to German history after the WWII and the role of the attorney of law Fritz Bauer in confronting the state with its political shortcomings), Paula (which recounts the journey of a well-known early 20th century painter, who discovered her artistic freedom in a more traditional Germany), Goodbye Berlin (a depiction of how the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany merged into one state, taking two young children as the protagonists of a road movie through former East Germany) and Greetings From Fukushima (which breaks the common stereotypes that surround Germans) will leave audiences with a better understanding of German history, culture and people.
While Goodbye Berlin ties in with this year's overall festival theme, Transit Tales , All of a Sudden, Greetings From Fukushima, Paula and Karl Marx City speak to one of this year's focus areas - women-led films.
DIFF audiences will have the chance to meet key people behind the productions. Anand Batbileg and Tristan G bel, two of the most promising talents in Germany's film scene and the main actors of Goodbye Berlin will be in Durban for a Q&A following the German Gala screening of Goodbye Berlin at The Playhouse (Drama Theatre) on 16 July (time to be confirmed). The award winning and family friendly film was made by prominent film maker Fatih Akin who recently presented his last film in Cannes. Tickets for the Gala Screening are available at Computicket.
Another confirmed DIFF guest is Doris D rrie, director of Greetings From Fukushima. With her unmistakable way of storytelling, she has been one of the towering figures in German cinema since she stirred up the countries' film scene in 1985 with the gender comedy Men. Christian Schwochow has been awarded for both his cinema and theatre work and will visit DIFF in his capacity as Director of Paula. Petra Epperlein will visit Durban as well to present the extraordinary documentary Karl Marx City, which is a highly personal cinematic journey into her childhood to find the truth about her late father's suicide and his rumored past in the GDR's secret service. Furthermore, Directors Karin Steinberger (The Promise) and Stephan Rick (The Dark Side Of The Moon) will be attending DIFF.
The German Focus at DIFF 2017 is presented by German Films, the Goethe-Institut and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in South Africa in cooperation with DIFF.
Alex Moussa Sawadogo, director of the Afrikamera Festival and curator of the German Film Focus at DIFF elaborates: Long considered as a highly politicized cinema that placed social and political criticism at the heart of its creation, today, German cinema is dominated by a new generation of directors. From diverse origins, free and gifted, these German directors are at the foreground of the vivacity of the production of German cinema, which is recognized all over the world. They bring the concerns of their generation in an intimate sphere on screen and discuss the tribulations of a new Germany that has opened itself to the world - particularly by receiving many people in distress. The German Film Focus at DIFF 2017 presents itself as a unique platform for the discovery of a program of new, diversified, exciting and engaging German films of all kinds - a cinema that places German people from all origins at the heart of its creation.
Mari tte Rissenbeek, German Films Service said: The majority of the films we are presenting have been very successful at a large number of international film festivals. The kinds of stories they tell and the way in which they are told are relevant for a larger international audience, and the director's handwriting has both a specific and an international element. The strength of German cinema at present is its diversity. Since the year 2000 a number of German films, about German history and personal stories, have been made which achieved international success.
Lien Heidenreich-Seleme, Head of Cultural Programmes at the Goethe-Institut, added: The goals of the Goethe-Institut are to support film within the creative industries and to undo with stereotypes through visual storytelling. We do this with training and networking initiatives, through interdisciplinary and pan-African collaborations, and by increasing access to the variety of German filmmaking. In this light, and after our longstanding relationship with DIFF, we are excited about this year's German focus.
DIFF, the Goethe-Institut South Africa and Berlinale Talents have a decade-long partnership. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Talents Durban, a programme that began in 2008 as a result of the partnership between DIFF and Berlin International Film Festival's Berlinale Talents, with the support of the Goethe-Institut and the German Embassy.
Talents Durban is an annual five-day training and mentorship programme that runs at DIFF, aimed at empowering emerging 27 African screenwriters and directors working on projects for film, television, web series and content for mobile platforms. The 10th edition will take place from 14-18th of July under the theme Perspectives: Seeing things differently , which is derived from the observation that film alone may not change the world but can show the world when it changes. Talents Durban looks to not only highlight the stories of Afri
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
21/10/2025
As Amazon's Prime Video prepares to launch its coverage of NBA basketball under a major new deal, Grup Mediapro has announced that it is working with the st...
21/10/2025
ATLANTA Good news for consumers using an Atlanta DTH receiver to watch ATSC 3.0: with a new software update, they will be able to blanket their homes with Wi-Fi...
21/10/2025
While recent news has been heavily focused on Hispanic migration into the U.S., The 2025 Hispanic Market Report from Claritas highlights the fact that this gr...
21/10/2025
MAIDENHEAD, UK RWS has hired Michael Wayne as its head of media and entertainment in Los Angeles where he will lead the company's media localization busines...
21/10/2025
Imagine Communications and Rohde & Schwarz today announced a definitive agreement under which Imagine will acquire Pixel Power Limited, a wholly owned subsidiar...
21/10/2025
Atlanta DTH (ADTH) today announced a major update that will expand the functionality of its NEXTGEN TV receiver by enabling gateway capabilities allowing viewer...
21/10/2025
Heartland Video Systems, Inc. (HVS), a premier video systems integration, consulting, and expert ATSC 3.0 implementation firm announces that it has partnered wi...
21/10/2025
QuickLink, the leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest integration solutions, today announced the appointment of Austin Hinton as it...
21/10/2025
nternet connectivity startup Miri Technologies Inc. will use this week's NAB Show New York as the launch pad for its latest ground-breaking innovation, the ...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
20/10/2025
(L-R) Maria Dizzia, Carmen Emmi, and Russell Tovey attend the Plainclothes pre...
20/10/2025
In March, we launched Concerts Near You to help listeners find concerts from their favorite artists. Since then, more than 3 million people have used it to disc...
20/10/2025
Em diversas cidades do Brasil, um movimento tem se fortalecido para celebrar o poder, a beleza e a profundidade da criatividade negra. O Dia AMPLIFIKA, agora em...
20/10/2025
In cities across Brazil, a movement is growing that celebrates the power, beauty, and depth of Black creativity. AMPLIFIKA Day, now in its fifth edition, return...
20/10/2025
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft rendering...
20/10/2025
DENVER and MUNICH Imagine Communications today announced its plans to acquire Pixel Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohde & Schwarz. Financial terms of...
20/10/2025
LOS ANGELES G Morgan has joined Globecast, a provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, as executive vice president of sales, Globecast Am...
20/10/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. Heartland Video Systems and Zixi have partnered to enable broadcast-quality live video delivery over any IP network....
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
20/10/2025
Monday 20 October 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. ...
20/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz transfers Pixel Power to Imagine Communications Companies work collaboratively to ensure continuity and ongoing support for existing customers...
20/10/2025
RT 's Prime Time is set to host the final Presidential Election Debate this Tuesday night, October 21, providing an opportunity to hear directly from Irelan...
20/10/2025
NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic a...
19/10/2025
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Comes to Life in New Live-Action Series Set for Spring 2026
Entertainment
19 October 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to cl...
18/10/2025
New England Sports Network (NESN) has chosen Harmonic, working with Astound Business Solutions, as its enterprise technology partner to transform primary distri...
18/10/2025
NEW ORLEANS, La. In the run-up to the start of the NBA season, WVUE-TV and Gray Local Media have announced a deal with DirecTV that will greatly expand access t...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
17/10/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
17/10/2025
(L-R) Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, Cooper Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Alyah Chan...
17/10/2025
M sica e arte se uniram em uma noite especial na semana passada na ZIV Gallery, ...
17/10/2025
Music and art came together for one special night last week at ZIV Gallery, an i...
17/10/2025
Spotify and FC Barcelona are extending our partnership through 2030, continuing a collaboration that's redefining how fans, players, and artists connect. Th...
17/10/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC) has deployed DigitalGlue's creative.space storage platform to streamline video production by centrali...
17/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. Football continued to cement its reputation as a bulwark of TV advertising in Q3 2025 with new data from iSpot that showed both the NFL and coll...
17/10/2025
The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC), the premier competitive saltwater fishing series, has transformed its production workflow by adopting creative.space, the...
17/10/2025
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, announces the release of StudioPro Version 4, ...
17/10/2025
Although the annual Grammy Awards celebration is best known for recognizing achievements in the recording industry, the show often proves a visual spectacle as ...
17/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, has promoted Alex Dunfey to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from his for...
17/10/2025
The University of Arizona (UofA) has significantly upgraded its broadcast communication infrastructure with the integration of Riedel Communications' advanc...
17/10/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that New England Sports Network (NESN), owned by Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North, has selected Harmonic as its en...
29 June, 2017 - 08:03 
