Moore and Herzog shake it up
democracy; Shadow World, based on former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein’s acclaimed book on the global arms trade. Director Johan Grimonprez masterfully takes audiences deep into the murky world of corrupt governments and arms dealers worldwide, revealing the true makers of a reality that ensures we will never be at peace..
Requiem for an American Dream, said to be the last full-length interview by one of the world’s most important intellectuals – Noam Chomsky, here gives a definitive account of global inequality and how power has come to rest in the hands of the select few. Also in the programme are a number of international documenatry portraits; Jihan El-Tahri’s revealing profile of Nasser offers rare insight into the social justice agenda of an Egyptian president whose revolution and Suez Crisis defied the West. It features candid interviews with revolutionary Free Soldiers, the Muslim Brotherhood and other political groups.
In Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures. Directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato trace the controversial artist from his middle-class, small-town upbringing to his success in the 1980s New York art world until his death in 1989 from Aids-related illness. The documentary follows both the photographs and the man, enriched by interviews with curators, celebrities, models, lovers and family from archival audio.
There is the work of popular and new young local film-makers presenting features covering topics, such as Uga Carlini’s hybrid feature documentary Alison: a tale of monsters, miracles and hope, the portrait of Alison Botha – a deeply personal story of triumph and survival.
Then there’s Aryan Kaganof ’s Opening Stellenbosch: From Assimilation to Occupation (part 1 & 2’) on the recent student-led #FeesMustFall movement at the university, Jean Paul Moodie’s historic piece on the painting of ANC leader Chief Albert Lutuli as Jesus in The Black Christ; Davidson Mudzingwa’s Lost Tongue on the San community in the Northern Cape; Taking Stock, Ben Stillerman’s portrait of his Benoni shopkeeper father; Mr. Table Tennis, an intergenerational story set in the new SA and Walking In My Shoes the story of Siphilele who trudges 15km to school and Nompilo who has to walk two hours home from school and must still fetch 50 litres of water from a communal tap. An elegant, well-researched, beautifully shot and informative film on the lack of transport facing rural learners in SA.
But Encounters is more than just screenings and besides themaster classes, in conversations with and pitching sessions, this year’s festl introduces special events which expand our view of non-fiction storytelling: Virtual Encounters is an exhibition featuring the latest in virtual reality and interactive documentary curated by digital director of the Tribeca Film Institute in New York; Ingrid Kopp; African Space, an immersive non-fiction sound experience, Danish journalist and founder of Sound Africa Podcast Rasmus Bitsch creates a new live experience of live documentary story-telling.
Based on audio recordings, original interviews, music and poetry, Bitsch presents a unique performance with astronomers and townspeople of the Karoo; UK pop band Dark Star fuses local audio documentary with electronica. Duo Aiden Whalley and James Young have been an influential force in the UK’s electronic scene with their album Foam Island. During their time here the pair will transpose the central concept of the album to a SA setting, recording the voices of young people for shows in Joburg and Cape Town. All of these events suggest new ways and possibilities for documentary narratives to be imagined and experienced.
www.encounters.co.za