The Documentary Filmmakers’ Association is pleased to announce that the DocLOVE inititiave will reignite in Johannesburg and continues in Durban and Cape Town. Our screenings will be followed by a discussion and the opportunity to meet other filmmakers and attendance at all screenings is free. The docLOVE programme has had strong support from film aficionados in Cape Town at two regular venues: the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education in Mowbray and Bertha Movie House at the Isivivana Centre, Khayalitsha. Mowbray viewings are held on the last Thursday of each month and at Bertha Movie House on First Wednesdays, both starting at 6pm with a discussion following the screening.

Since August, in collaboration with the Centre for Civil Society at UKZN, the docLOVE programme has expanded to Durban with a special focus on environmental social justice films. The Johannesburg programme launches this month at our partner Moon Valley Studios in Bez Valley.

Durban
THIS LAND: 24 October 2019 at 12:00 – 14:00 at CCS Seminar Room A726, Level 7, Shepstone, Howard College, UKZN

“Now in 2011 we see people coming in and digging… and (they) were told by one of the diggers that there are minerals under here and “all of you are going to be moved” But the people of Makhasaneni are not planning to go. They have the support of the headman, Induna Dludla – a wiry old man on the wrong side of 90, with a mind as sharp as a razor and the gravitas of the old guard. While his life has been threatened, he stands strong, not allowing his people to be moved. “I sleep like a rabbit, with one eye open”.

This Land is a documentary about land struggles in Makhasaneni where people have been engaged in resistance against developers and mining corporations. With his uneven, determined gait, Mavuso leads us to his father’s grave. He promised his father he would fight for the land and not allow his remains to be disturbed. Hidden in the rolling hills of Northern Kwazulu-Natal, Makhasaneni was considered worthless during Apartheid and relegated to the homeland of Kwazulu.

Johannesburg
29 October: CITY OF JOY at Moon Valley Studios at 7pm, 127, 6th Ave, Bezuidenhout Valley, 2094 Johannesburg

Devastated by 20 years of violence, the eastern part of The Democratic Republic of Congo is often referred to as “The worst place in the world to be a woman.” This film brings a very different story from the region. CITY OF JOY, directed by first-time director Madeleine Gavin, follows the first class of women at a revolutionary leadership center in eastern Congo called City of Joy, from which the film derives its title, and weaves their journey as burgeoning leaders with that of the center’s founders (Dr. Denis Mukwege, 2016 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, women’s rights activist Christine Schuler-Deschryver and radical feminist Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues) – three individuals who imagined a place where women who have suffered horrific rape and abuse can heal and become powerful voices of change for their country. A story about the profound resilience of the human spirit, CITY OF JOY witnesses Congolese women’s fierce will to reclaim hope, even when so much of what was meaningful to them has been stripped away.

Cape Town
31 October: CITY OF JOY at 18:00 – 20:00 at the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education, 67-69 Main Road, Mowbray
Guest speaker Lucida Evans from Philisa Abafazi Bethu and SA co-ordinator for the 1 Billion Rising Campaign

Devastated by 20 years of violence, the eastern part of The Democratic Republic of Congo is often referred to as “The worst place in the world to be a woman.” This film brings a very different story from the region. CITY OF JOY, directed by first-time director Madeleine Gavin, follows the first class of women at a revolutionary leadership center in eastern Congo called City of Joy, from which the film derives its title, and weaves their journey as burgeoning leaders with that of the center’s founders (Dr. Denis Mukwege, 2016 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, women’s rights activist Christine Schuler-Deschryver and radical feminist Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues) – three individuals who imagined a place where women who have suffered horrific rape and abuse can heal and become powerful voices of change for their country. A story about the profound resilience of the human spirit, CITY OF JOY witnesses Congolese women’s fierce will to reclaim hope, even when so much of what was meaningful to them has been stripped away.

5 November: SISTERS IN LAW at 18:00 – 20:00 at Bertha Movie House, Isivivana Centre in Khayalitsha

Sisters in Law by Florence Ayisi & Kim Longinotto
One small courthouse in Cameroon where two woman determined to change a village are making progress that could change the world. Winner of two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, including the prestigious Prix Art et Essai, Sisters-in-Law is a fascinating, moving and often hilarious look at the work of one small courthouse in Cameroon where two woman determined to change a village are making progress that could change the world. The tough-minded state prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba are working to help women in their Muslim village find the courage to fight often-difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from their family and their community to remain silent. We meet six-year-old Manka, who is covered in scars and has run away from an abusive aunt; Amina, who is seeking a divorce to put an end to brutal beatings by her husband; and the pre-teen Sonita, who has daringly accused her neighbor of rape. With fierce compassion, Ngassa and Ntuba dispense wisdom, wisecracks and justice in fair measure, handing down stiff sentences to those convicted. Inspiring and uplifting, Sisters-in-Law presents a strong and positive view of African women and captures the emerging spirit of courage, and the very real possibility of change.

For more information contact Miki Redelinghuys or Theresa Hill on mikiinthecity@gmail.com; theresa@steps.co.za