We have never been closer: The Importance of Film Festivals in South Africa

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“Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” - Bong Joon-ho

Once a month, Marvel fans and Twilight fans gather on Twitter to reiterate the impact of watching the Avengers assemble against Thanos and the Cullens face off against the Volturi respectively, live in the theatre. Although the age of streaming has long taken over, we are still a generation that craves to make a connection with what they consume beyond watching. This is why after I first watched ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’ I looked up every detail of its production from the director’s Wikipedia pages to the soundtrack. I know this is something other film lovers do too and this is why platforms such as Letterboxd, Tumblr and ‘film-tok’ on tik-tok exist.

People want to dissect and critique their favourite films but with others within a community. However, with the culture of social media and quick consumption, we are often divided over trivial things like the quality of the lighting on our devices to wondering just how many POC leads Tarantino has had in movies that we can’t fully enjoy films without wanting to provide commentary on Twitter within the first 20 minutes. This sets film festivals apart from other communal events because our community may be divisive but actively enjoys watching a film in a traditional setting with others; to gasp and laugh when others do. But unlike commercial movie theatres that play mainly mainstream films, festivals move away from offering what is commercial.

This is done because small and upcoming local filmmakers rarely ever get afforded the opportunities to expose the films they produce to their desired audiences and when they do, the stories that they tell may not adhere to the stories that productions companies want to continue selling. We are all familiar with the complaints about the type of content that continues to follow the same patterns and storylines in media that we desire local content that is innovative and refreshing. Despite this, many South Africans have opted instead to seek this type of film and TV internationally instead. This is not to say that what is offered to us outside of our country is better but that we just do not know where else we can find stories that are new, beautifully strange and multi-dimensional.

Film festivals provide an all-round experience because not only do they fully support local acts, showcase foreign-language films but also allow for panels with filmmakers where the details that film lovers so often search in corners for can be easily told by the writers and directors of the films themselves. This type of event facilitates connection between viewer and filmmakers in the most real and genuine way. you don’t have to go to Cannes to tick off going to a film festival on your bucket list and you're doing it while supporting local talent and cinemas. These are film festivals that are in cities near you showcasing remarkable local films.

Jozi Film Festival: This film festival provides screenings of local and international films annually at the Bioscope Independent Cinema in Johannesburg. The Bioscope is one such platform that not only supports local artist’s efforts to promote themselves by offering music video screenings but allows for a diversified approach to the type of content their audiences can access.

The One-Minute Story Film Festivals encourage new ways of storytelling by presenting films that do not exceed 60 seconds. This is the most inventive concept, considering what can be told in just a minute.

Finally, ‘Not A Film Festival’ is a collaboration between iQhawe Magazine and Girls in film South Africa which aims to uplift women filmmakers in an industry, where they are often sidelined by screening films made only by women.

As seen on their social media pages, the film festival will showcase films that explore themes of “gender, race, sexuality and socio-political commentary” which makes this event more attractive to attend because it tackles real issues we face in this celebrated art form in an important way.

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