26/12/2024
She's baaaack! Our post-Covid KZN reboot of q***r cinema is here with the 10th Durban Gay & Le***an Film Festival, a compact end-of-year weekend of select screenings of some awesome South African and international q***r filmmaking, from 28 - 30 December 2024.
>> Starting on Sat eve 28 December, at 19h00, the DGLFF opens with the African premiere of 'DOWN IN PARIS' (102 mins), a French language feature film by ex-Joburg and now Paris-based South African filmmaker Anthony Hickling: Richard, a film maker in his forties, is suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety during filming. He walks off set and wanders through the Paris night in search of answers, comfort and inspiration. During his sleepless night, he meets many people, some friendly, some disturbing, some known, some unknown. Richard has to confront his fears and question his deepest desires until the first light of dawn.
An encore screening of ‘DOWN IN PARIS’ is at 19h00 on Sun 29 December 2024.
>> The Festival is especially proud to be screening the recently completed Afrikaans documentary ‘ONTHOU VI FREDO?’ (37 mins) by South African filmmaker Cleveland Hopp from Cape Town. ‘Onthou Vi Fredo?’ offers an intimate portrait of Alfredo's enduring impact and legacy after his murder in Malmesbury, as recounted by his mother, close friends and the broader q***r community within Malmesbury.
This powerful doccie ‘ONTHOU VI FREDO’ will screen on Sun afternoon 29 December at 17h15 and again on Monday 30 December at 15h00.
>> Rounding off this select reboot programme is the South African premiere of a Spanish-language documentary set in Russia. ‘CALLS FROM MOSCOW’ (66 mins) is a Cuban-German-Norwegian co-production, by Cuban director Luis Alejandro Yero: days before the invasion of Ukraine is announced, four young Cubans visit a Moscow apartment for a 24-hour stay. In their phone calls, the present and future coexist: their stories as q***r and undocumented immigrants, and the exchanges with the film’s director about their distress after the outbreak of the war.
An intimate and gently made doccie, ‘CALLS FROM MOSCOW’ screens on Sun 29 December at 16h00 with an encore screening on Monday 30 December, again at 16h00.
www.dglff.org.za for bookings and Festival info
