Film-lovers can look forward to a provocative array of new award-winning films from Europe as the European Film Festival returns for its 11th edition in South Africa from 10 to 20 October, 2024.
Cinema screenings will take place in Johannesburg at Sterkinekor’s The Zone in Rosebank, and in Cape Town at The Labia. Eleven of the films will be available in the free programme of online streaming accessible across South Africa during the festival period of 10-20 October. For more info, see here.
Movie topics span women challenging patriarchy and convention; relationships and independence; humour, satire and surrealism; coming-of-age stories; dysfunctional families; grumpy old men; restless youth; the pursuit of dreams; plus there’s a realistic rom-com and a riotous hip-hop biopic.
High-quality cinema
Presenting films from 14 countries, and including two Oscar nominations, the festival is a showcase of high-quality cinema from the film industries in the respective participating countries of Belgium, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
Complicated Freedoms
“The films all speak to the topic of freedom in one or the another, from the personal to the political, and often both,” says Magdalene Reddy, co-director of the festival. “Whether it is a developmental journey, a process of unfolding, an illumination, or a result of political changes in the world around us, freedom comes at times of its own choosing, and one doesn’t always know what it looks like until you get there. The films this year offer a multi-faceted and evocative glimpse of what freedom means to a wide-ranging cast of characters and in an equally diverse range of situations – Complicated Freedoms!”
Sandra Kramer, EU Ambassador to South Africa, comments: “We are delighted to bring to you the 11th edition of the European Film Festival in South Africa with a carefully curated selection of films from several EU Member States as well as from Georgia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. This year, we celebrate the transformative power of cinema in exploring the topic of freedom through the lens of talented filmmakers from across the world. Let’s gather to appreciate these stories that remind us of the responsibility to protect and promote the freedoms that unite us all.”
Films will be confirmed on 17 September.
What: European Film Festival 2024
When: 10 to 20 October 2024
Where: Sterkinekor’s The Zone in Rosebank, Johannesburg; The Labia, Cape Town
Web: www.eurofilmfest.co.za
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