The Cape Town International Film Market and Festival (CTIFMF) recently announced the official selection of feature films for the 2018 edition. It is full of powerful and entertaining films that celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of cultures and stories from all over the world.
The programme is a cinematic feast, with some 120 world-class films on show to the public, festival delegates, and the jury.
Films from as far afield as Japan, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Russia, Germany, Romania, the UK, Indonesia and the Philippines will be joined from a selection from across Africa, including Ghana, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Niger and Tanzania.
The meticulously curated selection will include a significant amount of African content amongst the independent feature films, short films and documentaries on show. Particular focus areas are New Voices (first-time feature directors), That’s So Gay (new LGBTQ releases) and Cinema of Conscience.
Kenya is especially well represented by two films, the much-celebrated film Rafiki,
from the multi-award winning director Wanuri Kahiu, along with the beautifully moving Supa Modo, directed by Likarion Wainaina.
CTIFMF Festival Director Leon van der Merwe has this to say of this year’s selection: “This year we will present more films, including short and feature documentaries, submitted by filmmakers from more than 78 countries around the world. From the more than 700 entries we received, more than 80 feature films, 20 documentaries and 66 short films were selected. It was encouraging to see more filmmakers from Africa submitting their films to the film festival, supporting our theme of create, collaborate and celebrate.”
Van der Merwe added: “Women in film and also female film directors have risen in their numbers since last year. We celebrate and congratulate the extraordinary group of talented filmmakers who have employed their skills and craft in the exploration of social, cultural, economic and political subjects. We are extremely excited for this year’s festival. We believe the CTIFMF provides one more outlet to local and international filmmakers.”
As if to underline his point on women in film and female directors, another Kenyan entry to the festival is Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann’s beautiful film, New Moon. This documentary comes hot off its wins at both the Zanzibar International Film Festival and the Durban International Film Festival.
In the documentary film, Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann takes viewers on a journey of spiritual awareness. Her commitment to a path of self-discovery takes her to a woman called Raya and her young sons, Ahmed and Abu Bakr. It is in their home that she finds a narrative anchor and a more personal entry point into the mysteries of this old town. Fragments of Lamu life unfold like chapters in a book: a man scaling a fish, children bathing by a dock, a baptism, a visual diary of a woman not entirely sure of where she is headed.
Another Kenyan woman director whose work will be showing is Amirah Tajdin. Tadjin’s collaborative documentary film, Diamonds, Backpacks and a Matchbox, chronicles the ongoing aftermath of the six-year-old Syrian revolution, as recounted by some of it’s ‘survivors’.
Ticket sales open on October 1
and festival screenings are open to the public and will run from October 10-19 at various cinemas within the V&A Waterfront, including free family-friendly films at the Amphitheatre.
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Films that will screen include a range of World Premieres. The festival will also play host to a number of respected filmmakers from across South Africa, the rest of the continent and the globe.
Kenya is especially well represented by two films; the much celebrated film Rafiki (,
from the multi-award winning director Kanuri Kahiu, along with the beautifully moving Supa Modo, directed by Likarion Wainaina, ().
Rafiki ("Friend")was inspired by Ugandan 's 2007 Caine Prize Winning short story "Jambula Tree", Rafiki is the story of friendship and tender love that grows between two young women, Kena and Ziki, amidst family and political pressures. The film had its international premiere in the section at the .
Supa Modo tell the story of a young girl whose dream of becoming a superhero is threatened by terminal illness, inspiring her village to rally together to make her dream come true. This uplifting debut film
for Likarion Wainana has won 7 awards in various International Film Festivals.