Cinema: Durban International Film Festival 2021, online

Cinema: Durban International Film Festival, online from July 22 to August 1, 2021

Bookings open today – July 21 – for The Durban International Film Festival 2021. DIFF is on from tomorrow – July 22 to August 1, 2021. There are features, feature length documentaries and short films (multiple genres). All screenings are taking place online. As with last year, 2020, there is no charge to watch films. One clicks on “rent” but there the amount to pay, is zero. Before making online transactions, one needs to register on the site. If you registered last year, you should be able to log in again, using the details/password from 2020. Some screenings may be limited in terms of number of tickets released so if there is a film you want to definitely see, it is advisable to book in advance. Some films will be available from tomorrow – July 22 – and other films will be released during the festival. i

The opening film is The Eagle’s Nest, directed by award-winning Cameroonian born, British-based Olivier Assoua. It is described as an action-thriller on migration and poverty. The closing film is Threshold, an autobiographical documentary, directed by Brazilian director Coraci Ruiz which tracks a mother as she follows the gender transition of her adolescent son. TheCapeRobyn #DIFF2021 Watch list – follows:

TheCapeRobyn watch list for #DIFF2021 ? The Eagle’s Nest (2020) – directed by Axel Abessolo- action thriller – 1 hour 30 minutes. OPENING FILM. “During a night of debauchery, best friends Paris and Samantha discover five million. Later, a thief breaks into Paris’s house, kills her mother, her sister and leaves her for dead. When she recovers, and with the help of Samantha, Paris sets off on a quest to find answers. What begins as a search for the truth quickly turns into violence and disturbing revelations. In a world of lies, deceit and betrayal, will they be able to uncover the identity of the murderer?” #DIFF2021 booking link: https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/film/the-eagles-nest/   ? Murder in Paris (2021) – directed by Enver Samuel – is a political crime thriller documentary (1 hour 39 minutes) which grapples with motives for the assassination of anti-Apartheid activist, Dulcie September. The story starts from Paris in March 1988 and wraps up with the ongoing pursuit of justice in 2021. #DIFF2021 booking link: https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/film/murder-in-paris/ ? I Am Here (2021) – documentary (1 hour 13 minutes), directed by Jordy Sank. Extraordinary Holocaust memoir film on the life of Holocaust survivor, Ella Blumenthal who lives in Cape Town- with animation to image the unimaginable. Review link on TheCapeRobyn: https://thecaperobyn.co.za/film-review-i-am-here-ella-blumenthal-directed-by-jordy-sank/ #DIFF2021 booking link: https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/film/i-am-here/ ? A Guide To Eating Out In Nairobi (2020) – directed by Hugh Mitton. This short film (11 minutes), pivots around a security guard in Kenya who gets a $10 USD tip from his wealthy boss. The question is: How far can he make it go? #DIFF2021 booking link: https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/film/a-guide-to-dining-out-in-nairobi/   ? Sons of Sea (2020) – drama (1 hour 22 minutes), directed by John Gutierrez. “Gabriel, a gifted but reclusive teenager from a poor South African fishing community, is pressured by his older brother to steal two bags of ocean treasure – abalone – from a dead man. Tracked by a corrupt government official, the boys’ mission to sell the goods takes them through the mountainous region of the fabled Cape of Good Hope, and into a fight for their own survival.” #DIFF2021 booking link: https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/film/sons-of-the-sea/ ? Threshold (2020) – directed by Coraci Ruiz- 1 hour 17 minutes. Documentary. CLOSING FILM “Threshold” is an autobiographical documentary made by a mother who follows the gender transition of her adolescent son. Between 2016 and 2019 she interviews him, addressing the conflicts, certainties and uncertainties that pervade him in a deep search for his identity. At the same time, the mother, revealed through first-person narration and by her voice behind the camera that talks to her son also goes through a process of transformation required by the situation that life presents her with, by breaking old paradigms, facing fears and dismantling prejudices. #DIFF2021 booking link: https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/film/threshold/

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