SA films feature at Berlin International Film Festival

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SA films feature at Berlin International Film Festival --

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 11:34

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The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival runs from 5 to 15 February 2015 and is the largest public film festival in the world, screening around 400 films. This year the line-up includes seven South African productions and co-productions.

Breathe Umphefumlo

Produced by South Africa s Advantage Entertainment and Isango Ensemble and the UK s Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME), the film will appear in the Out Of Competition section of the festival. Breathe Umphefumlo transports Giacomo Puccini s opera La Boheme to contemporary South Africa and includes songs in Xhosa. The story follows a group of artists, writers and actors struggling to survive in the township of Khayelitsha.

Coming of Age

This documentary will appear in the Generation Competition 14plus section and is directed by Teboho Edkins. Coming of Age follows teenagers over the course of two years as they grow up in the southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho. When Lefa s best friend Senate leaves the village where they live, she too must decide whether to stay or leave in search of a better education and new opportunities.

Joe Bullet

Joe Bullet, directed by Louis de Witt, will form part of the 2015 Special Screenings at the festival. The 1973 gangster film is about a manipulated soccer cup final and was one of the first films to feature an all-black cast. Although the film was not overtly political, it was banned and did not screen for an extended period of time. Now this unique work has been restored and can be shown once again. The film stars Ken Gampu, Joe Lopez and Abigail Kubeka.

Necktie Youth

This film will feature in the Panaroma section of the festival and chronicles a day in the life of best friends Jabz and September, two Americanised Zulu boys, as they go on a drug-fuelled joyride through Joburg s affluent suburbs. The film is directed by Sibs Shongwe-La Mer and stars Bonko Cosmo, Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, Colleen Balchin, Kamogelo Moloi, Emma Tollman, Jonathan Young, Giovanna Winetzki, Ricci- Lee Kalish and Michael Hall.

Umbango

Umbango, directed by Tonie van der Merwe, will also feature in the 2015 Special Screenings section. Until the end of the Apartheid era, state funding was granted to numerous so-called B-Scheme films, which were shot by mainly white producers for black audiences. This is one of the few Westerns still in existence from this period, and is a typical Wild West story about the battle between good and evil. The film stars Popo Gumede and Hector Mathanda.

Abaabi ba boda boda (The Boda Boda Thieves)

This Yes! Thats Us film, co-produced by Uganda, South Africa, Kenya and Germany, pays homage to the Italian neo-realist film The Bicycle Thieves (1948). Boda bodas (from border-to-border) are motorcycle taxis sometimes also used to carry goods. This coming-of-age story is about a young drifter whose existence is put to the test when an accident stops his father from being able to drive. Abaabi ba boda boda is directed by Ugandan Donald Mugisha.

Black President

Black Presidentis a Zimbabwe, South Africa and United Kingdom co- produced film by Mpumelelo Mcata. Mcata allows artist Kudzanai Chiurai to escape into a whole other realm following various uncomfortable experiences in the art scene.

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