The 45th Durban International Film Festival wrapped up the event and prize giving over the weekend with “Sierra's Gold” scooping the Best South African Feature Film award.
Adze Ugah’s compelling story is about an eccentric young black visual artist in Johannesburg who discovers she is pregnant. Her boyfriend and manager convinces her to consume an abortion-inducing concoction but instead she is bestowed with the inexplicable ability to excrete gold coins.
The competition jury said: “This audacious film constantly surprised us while deftly juggling genres and taking us on a totally wild ride, an experience that was heightened by watching with an audience whose visceral reactions palpably matched our own, likely just as the filmmaker intended.”
The winner of the Best International Feature Film was “All We Imagine as Light”, directed by Payal Kapadia.
“Its exploration of 'forbidden' love, longing, duty, commitment, and doubt is anchored in its powerful portrayal of relationships between women, featuring exquisite performances across the board,” noted the jury.
Tara Moore’s directorial debut, “Legacy: The Decolonized History of South Africa” won Best South African Documentary Film. In her doccie, Moore explores why South Africa remains the most unequal society in our world.
The jury said: “While it may fall short of offering a decolonised history, it does prompt us to take up the conversation and ask how we decolonise our history: past, present, and future.
“History is never complete, South African documentary filmmakers remain critical in continuing to add to the body of films that speak to who we are and who we will become as a country.”
Fatima Kaci’s “Rim” took home silverware for Best International Short Film. It takes viewers behind the curtain for a look at the complex and often impersonal process of asylum applications.
Meanwhile the South African winner was “The Wait”, directed by Imran Hamdulay. Through the experiences of Mzu, ‘The Wait’ translates the intricacies of South African life onto the screen.
Mzu quickly learns the implications of disrupting the flow while standing in line in South Africa.
The jury said: “Hamdulay’s film provides a nuanced view of the textured experiences and myriad possibilities one might encounter when entering a police station in South Africa.”
German short film, “Don't Let Go”, by Antonia Lorenza Lindner won the Best International Student Film award for its “subtle, cinematic and captivating showcase of ”intimacy and betrayal”.
The Best South African Student Filmmaker Award went to Lindokuhle Mthimkhulu, who directed “Warm”, while The Amnesty International SA Durban group’s Human Rights Award for 2024 went to “The Battle of Laikipia”, by Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murumi.
The jury made special mentions of two other films, “Dahomey” by Mati Diop, which focuses on the long overdue return of Africa's artifacts towards restoring the continent’s dignity and spirituality, in this case to Benin, and “The Showerhead” by Craig Turner and Anant Singh, which follows the courageous South African activist-cartoonist, Zapiro (Jonathan Shapiro) as he unflinchingly challenges wrong-doing by those in power, exercising his freedom of expression, in a democratic country.