"Complicated Freedoms" at the 11th European Film Festival in South Africa
25.09.2024
Filmlovers can look forward to an entertaining and provocative array of new award-winning films from Europe as the European Film Festival returns for its 11th edition in South Africa from 10-20 October. 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; a realistic rom-com; and a riotous hip-hop biopic - all this and more.
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.
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria will participate in this event for the tenth time. This year, Poland will present “The Peasants” directed by Dorota Kobiela Welchman and Hugh Welchman. It is a screen adaptation of Władysław Reymont's most famous novel using the technique of painted animation, on which over a hundred painters worked. “The Peasants" is a moving and reflective production that draws the viewer in with its authenticity and emotional depth, bringing closer a world that, despite the passage of time, remains relevant and full of life's truths.
The film can be seen in Johannesburg at the Sterkinekor The Zone cinema in Rosebank on Saturday 12.10.2024 at 18:30, and in Cape Town at The Labia cinema on Sunday 20.20.2024 at 17:45.
“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, commented:
“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.”
Cinema screenings 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 information visit www.eurofilmfest.co.za.
The European Film Festival 2024 is a partnership project of the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa and 14 European embassies and cultural agencies in South Africa: the Embassies of Belgium, Denmark, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the British Council, Camoes Institute of Portugal, French Institute in South Africa, Goethe-Institut, Italian Cultural Institut, and Wallonie-Bruxelles International, The festival is organised in cooperation with Cineuropa, Ster Kinekor and The Labia and is coordinated by Creative WorkZone.
