Malian film, Timbuktu, and the South African feature, Love the One You Love, have emerged big winners at the just concluded Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). The announcement was made by the organisers on Saturday night during the closing ceremony of the 35th edition at the Suncoast CineCentre Supernova.
The Best Feature Film award, festival’s highest accolade which carries a cash prize of R50, 000, went to Malian director, Abderrahmane Sissako’s masterful Timbuktu. It is one among the selection of competition films that the international jury described as having dealt with “individuals coping with ideological, social and political pressures whilst trying to find their own identity and humanity in a world increasingly under distress.”
The international jury consisting of: Remi Bonhomme, who heads Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival; Diarah N’Daw-Spech, the co-founder and co-director of the African Diaspora Film Festival in New York, commended Sissako’s film for being “an impressively well-made film that makes us aware, in an extraordinarily human and gentle way, of the fight for dignity and freedom of individuals against oppression and violence…”
Other members of the jury were: Andrew Worsdale, writer, director and previous winner of Best South African Feature film at DIFF; and actress and activist Paulina Malefane, known for her role of Carmen in both the stage and film productions of U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, and co-founder of the Isango Ensemble.
The award for Best South African Feature Film, which carries a prize of R25, 000 went to Jenna Bass’ exciting first feature Love the One You Love. The local jury stated that they chose the film “for its stylistic and narrative freshness.” Bass was also honoured with the prize for Best Direction in a South African Feature Film, with the jury describing the young director as “inquisitive, innovative and with a unique voice and luminous cinematic sensibility, who shows us a contemporary universe which is as imaginative as it is true”.
Other winners are: Best First Feature Film: Salvation Army By Abdellah Taia, Best Direction: Noaz Deshe for White Shadow, Best Screenplay: Love is Strange written by Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias and Best Cinematography: Sofian el Fani – Timbuktu.
Others are: Best Actor: Ibrahim Ahmed – Timbuktu and Tony Kgoroge – Cold Harbour, Best Actress: Chi Mhende – Love the One You Love, Durban International Film Festival Award For Artistic Bravery: Petter Brunner – My Blind Heart,Best SA Documentary: Miners Shot Down by Rehad Desai, and Special Mention: Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me by Khalo Matabane.
For Best Direction in a South African Documentary: I, Afrikaner by Annalet Steenkamp, Special Mention: Fatherland by Tarryn Crossman, Best Documentary: A World Not Ours by Mahdi Fleifel, Best Short Film: Out of Place by Ozan Mermer and Best South African Short Film: Keys, Money, Phone by Roger Young.
The Audience Choice Award was still to be announced as at press time.
Festival Manager Peter Machen said they were extremely proud that the DIFF has an iconic award. “Venice has the Golden Lion, Berlin has the Golden Bear and now Durban has the Golden Giraffe. Caryn Tilbury’s beautifully idiosyncratic design is perfectly representative of the slick but edgy nature of the festival,” he said.
