Durban International Film Festival to wow
THE 40th Durban International Film Festival will be held from July 18 to 29 at various venues around the city.
It will open with South African director Jahmil XT Qubeka’s Knuckle City, which explores the psychology of a fighter from the Mdantsane township in the Eastern Cape.
A total of 150 films from around the globe will be screened – among them are Bhai’s Café, Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale, The Birth Land and Subira.
A highlight is the South Africa meets Bollywood inspired Bhai’s Cafe, directed by Maynard Kraak.
The film, produced by Razia Rawoot and Kraak, centres on the Patel family and their café, the cornerstone of the Wynberg community in Cape Town.
The café comes under threat from a ruthless property developer as Bhai’s daughter, Rashmi, is swept off her feet in true Bollywood fashion by Patrick, the son of the property magnate.
At the same time, Bhai and his family rally the community to square off with the property developer to stave off the bulldozers and save the café.
Kraak said it was a personal challenge to do a film with dance and singing, something he had never done in his 24-year career.
Actor-comedian Siv Ngesi plays Patrick, the love interest, who is incidentally a fan of Bollywood movies and music, and participates in dance sequences and even sings in Hindi.
Rashmi is played by Suraya Rose Santos, and Mehboob Bawa and Rehane Abrahams will play her parents, Magan Bhai and Mary.
The film will have one screening at the festival – on July 27 at 7pm at SterKinekor, Gateway – before it goes on to the national circuit on Valentine’s Day next year.
● The Bangladeshi film Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale will be screened at Gateway on July 20 at 2.30pm and on July 24 at Musgrave at 4pm.
Directed by Piplu Khan, the tale is based on the life of Sheikh Hasina, the 10th prime minister of Bangladesh.
It stars Sheikh Hasina as herself in the title role, with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana also playing herself.
The film covers the assassination of their father, sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of her family, in 1975.
● The Birth Land, a Bengali film by Proshoon Rahmaan, chronicles the tale of a pregnant Rohingya woman.
She does not want to give birth to her child in the densely populated refugee camp in which she lives. The woman asks for the help of 25-year-old Manik.
As he takes care of the young widow, their journey gives viewers a glimpse of life in the refugee camp.
It will be screened on July 19 at 9.15pm and July 25 at 5pm at Gateway.
● Subira, directed by Sippy Chadha of Kenya, is about Subira, 11, a cheeky young girl raised in an orthodox Muslim community on the remote island of Lamu in Kenya.
She will soon be married off to a rich Nairobi family.
Subira dreams of being as free as her brother but her mother wants her to follow tradition and learn to be what she considers to be an exemplary woman. Subira, however, has other plans. It will be screened on July 21 at 2.30pm.
● For additional information on the festival, visit ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za