Advocating films with an African feel

Nashen Moodley of the Durban International Film Festival emphasises the positive side to the continent.

On meeting the DIFF programmer of the African section, I had to ask him what he thought of Hotel Rwanda, considering it made a lot of positive noise in Hollywood. Nashen Moodley smiles and doesn't say anything. On further probing he merely manages to say, "It's a noble film. I mean, its heart was in the right place."

But?

"It's not an African film," he says. Slightly peeved at the perception of Africa as a giant monolith that has one uniform culture spread across it, Moodley, who is artistic director of the Durban International Film Festival, says that his main objective while programming his section was to avoid the stereotypes that are generally associated with the continent.

Different treatment

However, the films within the In Honor of Africa section do focus on the alleged stereotype issues of civil war, circumcision, Aids and reconciliation. Moodley defends them by saying it's the treatment and the positive feel of the films that make them different. "There has been a conscious attempt to stay away from films that reflect the western perception of Africa and things that relate to Africa, but more importantly, we wanted to show films that didn't portray Africa as a hopeless case. There's a lot of positive and a lot of energy in the continent that we'd like to show the world," he says.

With only South Africa having conditions that are favourably disposed towards filmmaking Moodley describes any film made from the other African countries as "little miracles".

He talks specifically about O Heroi (The Hero) in this regard. "That was filmed in Angola and the circumstances were extremely difficult to film in," he says adding that while foreign names did feature as co-producers, their presence ensures that these films are made.

According to Moodley, the need for films made by Africans increases as when these complex themes and issues are tackled by foreigners there tends to be a simplification of them. "There's a lot of layering within the issues that face Africans. It can't be labelled as poverty, war and Aids. Within each there's a whole range of sub-issues that have various other factors - including psychological - that run through them, which someone from the outside world can't understand, even if they spend a few months. You have to have been there, grown up in it to understand," he says.

Though the number of films made in Africa is slowly on the rise the supporting infrastructure is still lacking with basic facilities such as cinemas often absent from the social scene. However, that doesn't mean there's a lack of demand.

"African people want to watch African films but there's something called a straight-to-video phenomenon that's extremely popular in Nigeria and it's spreading to other countries," he says. This phenomenon is basically one where movies are filmed within short spans of time with minimal resources and props to make it straight to the video format.

Looking up

Having said that he is optimistic for African cinema and not just South African films, though they are the ones that have tasted the most prominent success in recent times. Yesterday was nominated for a Best Foreign Film of 2004 at the Academy Awards and U-Carmen eKhayelitsha won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Both films were from South Africa. However, a Senegalese and French collaboration, Moolade, a film about four girls seeking sanctuary from being circumcised won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes and was made by one of Africa's most respected filmmakers, Ousmane Sembene.

"That's what's exciting about the section in this year's DIFF. Apart from being the first time that they're having a section dedicated to African cinema, we've brought in films that range from an 83-year old filmmaker to some debut feature films," Moodley says.

This to him is an example of the diversity that exists within the continent - an example of older and established filmmakers mirroring struggles that Africa has had to overcome and younger debutantes representing the optimism of the future.

Having survived much more, the older directors' experiences lay a strong foundation for the new directors so they can carry on what has started and take African film to the places it needs to go to.

U-CARMEN eKHAYELITSHA (Carmen in Khayelitsha)

- Xhosa dialogue with English subtitles; 120 minutes.

- Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival 2005, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha is an inventive, staged reinvention of George Bizet's opera Carmen. Relocated to present-day Khayelitsha, one of South Africa's largest townships outside Cape Town, the film mixes with traditional African song with lyrics in Xhosa. It's a story of love, obsession, duty and desire.

- U-Carmen eKhayelitsha will be screened as a Gala screening at 8pm on December 15 at the Madinat Arena and at 7.30pm on December 16 and 12.15pm on December 17 at the Cinestar Cinemas in Mall of the Emirates.

FORGIVENESS

- English and Afrikaans dialogue with English subtitles; 112 minutes.

- Using the conventions of the Western, Forgiveness is an adroit examination of betrayal and revenge in post-apartheid South Africa. An unknown man arrives in the town of Paternoster on the west coat. Granted amnesty for crimes committed in the past, the ex-cop is still weighed down by his sins. He seeks out the family of the political activist he murdered and asks their forgiveness. Inclined at first to drive the man away, the family then becomes involved in a plot to keep him in the town and avenge the death of their son. As the murder of the murderer nears there are unexpected moments of connection between the family and killer leaving a suspense-filled climax.

- Forgiveness will be screened at 6:15pm on December 12 and 6pm on December 14 at the Cinestar Cinemas in Mall of the Emirates.

O HEROI (The Hero)

- Portuguese dialogue with English subtitles; 97 mins

- Winner of the Grand Prize in the World Dramatic Competition at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, Zeze Gamboa's debut visits an Angola desperately trying to rebuild after a long, brutal civil war.

- A war hero returns to the capital having lost a leg in battle. Instead of encountering the respect he feels he has earned, he is jeered at by women and children and meets indifference as he tries to secure a prosthetic limb. When he finally succeeds, the leg catches the attention of thieves. The rest of the city is in chaos. Children search for parents who never returned from the war, parents search with fading optimism for missing children. Yet there are moments of genuine kindness and warmth shared by complete strangers.

- The Hero will be screened at 3pm on December 12 and 5:45pm on December 13 at the Cinestar Cinemas in Mall of the Emirates.

MOOLADE

- Bambara and French dialogue with English subtitles; 124 mins

- The heroine is a circumcised woman who has managed to help her only daughter escape this ritual purification organised every seven years. Four young girls trying to avoid being circumcised flee to the heroines house for refuge and she invokes the tradition of moolade or sanctuary to protect them. The village is torn in two, but nobody dares violate the moolade, even as two different value systems clash violently. The film won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in 2004.

- Moolade will be screened at 9.30pm on December 15 and 10.15pm on December 16 at the Cinestar Cinemas in Mall of the Emirates.

LA NUIT DE LA VERITE (The Night of Truth)

- French, Moore and Dioula dialogue with English subtitles; 100 mins.

- The film is set in an imaginary African country. A brutal ethnic war is ending after 10 years with the signing of the peace treaty by the president and leader of the rebel forces. At a feast of reconciliation at with the president and his wife will be guests, there is great tension and the president's wife is particularly uncomfortable as memories of her son's murder resurface. A simple act, the beating of a drum, could end the peace process and leads to a shocking climax.

- La Nuit De La Verite will be screened at 9.30pm on December 13 and 3.45pm on December 14 at the Cinestar Cinemas.

OUAGASAGA

- French dialogue with English subtitles; 90 minutes.

- In a poor neighbourhood of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, a group of friends struggle to survive. Though wracked by poverty, they continue to dream, each harbouring an unlikely ambition. Always willing to take every opportunity that presents itself, one comes in the form of a carelessly unlocked scooter, which the boys spirit away and sell to make some quick cash. But the money brings complications and the one constant in the boys' lives - their loyalty to each other - bears the burden of this newfound wealth. A freak piece of luck, however, could solve all their problems, save their now fragile friendship and allow them to realise their ambition.

- Ouagasaga will be screened at 9pm on December 14 and 3.15pm on December 16 at the Cinestar Cinemas in Mall of the Emirates.

YESTERDAY

- Zulu dialogue with English subtitles; 95 minutes

- Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 2004, Yesterday is a story of a young mother, by the name of Yesterday, who lives in rural Kwazulu-Natal with her young child, named Beauty. Her husband works the mines in Johannesburg and comes home only occasionally. Yesterday takes ill and after finally meeting a doctor, realises she is HIV-positive. Her husband reacts violently. He beats her and refuses to acknowledge the disease. The villagers also ostracise Yesterday. Months later, her husband returns, obviously in the latter stages of Aids and very ill. Yesterday takes care of him as he fades away, all the while hoping that she lives long enough to see her Beauty start school.

- Yesterday will be screened at 6pm on December 16 at the Madinat Theatre and at 2.30pm on December 17 at the Cinestar Cinemas.