One of the major aims of this year’s festival, alongside the usual mandate of showcasing the talent of 2020, is to support The Bioscope during these challenging times. To that end, one lucky person stands a chance to win a private screening at The Bioscope (Sunday, 20 September at 12pm) – take a group of friends, your partner or the whole family! Follow Jozi Film Festival on social media to be in with a chance to win.
For the rest of the country, everyone’s invited to this year’s festival and you don’t even need to get a new outfit or have your hair done.
Over 30 films will be available on-demand during the festival weekend for one special price of $7 (approximately R120). Virtual festival-goers will have four days of unlimited viewings of the official selection. To register and pre-order visit jozifilmfestival.vhx.tv
“While we do not prescribe a theme each year, we do select films that speak to the issues we are facing here in South Africa, and as a global community. 2020 has been unprecedented,” says founder Lisa Henry, “and this is reflected in this year’s selection. If you get a chance to watch a few of our films, you’ll notice a thread of the marginalised and disenfranchised; from the immigrants stuck for years in a refugee camp on Samos (Samos: The Faces of Our Border) to the many left behind in the “New South Africa” (A New Country) to “Deleted” (UK), a short documentary that follows the last five hours of a 59-year-old man before becoming homeless due to bureaucracy by the Dept. for Work and Pensions.
Even the charming animation, Ruby & Roach (SA) about two unwanted slightly soiled sale toys is a story laden with a metaphor about prejudice in society, as well as a statement about the mass-manufactured generic things we all desire. Having said that, there’s plenty that will entertain too - amongst others, we have selected the quirky “Reptilian" from Hungary and the hilarious “Blast" from Nigeria about a call centre agent with tummy troubles."
