36th Durban International Film Festival 16 26 July 2020 - Arterial Network

This July sees the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) return for its 36th year of cinematic celebration. From 16 to 26 July, the city will be illuminated by the wonder and diversity of global cinema, with over 200 screenings in 9 venues across the city. Alongside this selection of the best of contemporary cinema, including 74 feature films, 50 documentaries, 74 short films and 23 surf films, the festival offers an extensive workshop and seminar programme in which industry experts from around the world share their knowledge and skills.

This year's diverse line-up includes an expanded focus on African cinema with a selection of Africa's Lost Classics and a showcase of this year's FESPACO winners. Other focus areas include a cross-section of contemporary cinema from Brazil and an investigation into the filmmaking landscape of a changing Tunisia, as well DIFF Beat, which celebrates a number of music-based films, and Just One Earth, which presents a selection of environmentally- and sustainability themed titles.

The programme of films from the African continent includes a number of strong directorial talents. From South Africa's Mpumelelo Mcata comes the challenging documentary-hybrid Black President. Philippe Lacôte's Run is a left-field masterpiece from Côte d'Ivoire and Uganda delivers the goods with The Boda Boda Thieves, the latest title from vivacious creative co-operative Yes! That's Us.

DIFF Beat Documentaries include Beats of the Antonov which portrays the musical lives of a war-torn community in Sudan, Sembene! which documents the life and career of African master Ousmane Sembene and Paths to Freedom, exploring the genesis of Namibia's armed struggle against South Africa.

Africa's Lost Classics is a selection providing rare opportunities for viewers to catch some of the most powerful and idiosyncratic works from the continent's rich film history. The selection comprises the previously lost masterpiece Come Back, Africa, the seminal Mapantsula from Oliver Schmitz and The Blue Eyes of Yonta by pioneering Guinea-Bissau filmmaker Flora Gomes, as well as Badou Boy and Touki Bouki, both from African master Djibril Diop Mambety.

Click here for the Durban International Film Festival Website.