Film Festival

 The PHA3 Film and Documentary Festival present South African and African productions every day of the PHA3!!

Together with the Tri Continental Human Rights Film Festival and Street Talk,  PHM is working on a film and documentary festival in line with the main themes of the PHA3. A selection of brilliant documentaries from South Africa and beyond has been made to complement the talking sessions of that day.

For the majority of the showings, the producers will be present to facilitate discussion about the theme of the showing!

The program will be online soon, watch this space...

PHA3 Film and Documentary Festival - SCHEDULE and BRIEFS

All documentaries will be shows in venue: S1

After each of the sessions, dialogue will be encouraged between the public and

-          Or  the producer of the documentary

-          Or the subject of the documentary

-          Or one of the PHA3 speakers specialised in the theme of the movie

This to further explore the questions raised, problems exposed and solution provided.

6th of July: OPENING OF THE FILMFESTIVAL

In the evening of the 6th of July, the film and documentary festival opens with a fabulous Cape Town production:

THEMBI

'Thembi' - Effervescent, beautiful, confident, brave, eloquent and ambitious, Thembi epitomises the youth of South Africa. Tragically, in more ways than one, Thembi came to fame through her audio diary for the US’ National Public Radio. It documented her daily life in Khayelitsha and the physical, social and emotional struggle of living with HIV. Her humour, forthright nature and inner strength enchanted her 50 million strong audience, forcing people far and wide, humble and famous, to listen to her sound logic as the voice of a generation that South Africa’s politicians had forsaken. Despite her boundless energy and herculean courage, this gentle and incisive documentary shows that Thembi is all too human. Her desire to live, love and leave behind a legacy didn’t make her any less susceptible to insecurity, social pressure, exhaustion and the vagaries of being a celebrity.

2.      Taking Haart              7 July, 17h @S1

Taking HAART provides a fly on the wall view of how outrage ignited a movement that united people across race and class, one that developed a well educated cadre deeply versed in the issues it confronted, built coalitions, used the courts, peaceful protest and civil disobedience to achieve its objectives. Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) plays a critical role in showing how the bill of rights entrenched in the South African constitution can be used to win social and economic rights and to change government policy. It is through this mass movement that the right to universal access to treatment was won.

Jack Lewis who produced the movie and is part of Treatment Action Campaign, will be at the screening to guide discuss the theme of the documentary afterwards.

3.      Healers            7 July, 20h @S1

This is the feel-good story of how a doctor and a matron at a rural South African hospital started a ground-breaking scholarship programme to enable local youth to qualify as healthcare professionals. When Dr Andrew Ross and Elda Nsimbini were faced with the crisis of losing five doctors, they established a mentorship programme that identified the best students in the district. Years on, they are reaping the fruits of their efforts. Rather than the usual sad tale of neglect and deterioration, Barry’s film offers a realistic solution – local people for local problems – that pioneers a path many rural hospitals should follow.

4.      Bushman’s Secret      8 July, 14.30h 2S1

When South African filmmaker Rehad Desai travels to the Kalahari to investigate global interest in ancient Bushmen knowledge, he meets Jan van der Westhuizen, a fascinating Khomani San traditional healer.  One plant could make all the difference. Hoodia, a cactus used by Bushmen for centuries, has caught the attention of a giant pharmaceutical company. It now stands to decide the fate of the Khomani San. 

Traditional healer will be attending the discussion following the showing.

5.      Street Talk session     8 July, 17h @S1

Street Talk films uninhibited discussions about sexuality, politics, racism, HIV, drugs, violence, poverty, xenophobia, and dreams. Teenagers, old age pensioners, lesbians, foreigners, and gangsters kick back and hold forth with no topic taboo, no opinion too radical. Street Talk will be showing four 15 minutes episodes followed by a 15 minute Q&A where participants from each episode will answer questions.

• State Hospitals - A group of doctors talk about the enormity of the challenges they face as practitioners in state hospitals and the risks they face on a daily basis. (Season 1 Episode 43). Lwazi Manzi who works at a state hospital and who participated in the film will attend.
• Gogo's Soccer - An old age pensioner Mabel Zenani founded a soccer team for the elderly ladies in Khayelitsha called Vukani Mafrika. We discover how playing soccer has changed their lives and improved their health. (Season 2 Episode 52. We are arranging for Mabel Zenani to be there.
• Gay in Gugs -  A group of homosexuals share the challenges the face being 'out' in traditional, conservative township culture. They speak about homophobia, corrective rape, family issues and the laws of attraction. (Season 2 Episode 6) One of the participant will be in attendance along with the film maker Thembela Dick

 

Disabled - A group of disabled men and women tell us how it feels to be disabled in South Africa, the challenges they face and how they rise above the prejudice. (Season 1 Episode 39) - we will bring along Shelly Barry who participated in the film and is also a filmmaker based here in Cape Town.

6.      Difficult Love              8 July, 20h @S1

Difficult Love presents a lively personal take on the challenges facing Black lesbians in South Africa today. It features the life, photographs, work, friends and associates of "visual activist" and renowned photographer, Zanele Muholi (who also presents). How real are the freedoms of our new democracy for this diverse minority? This documentary offers a moving answer - and a compelling plea for understanding and tolerance

Zanele Muholi, producer and subject of the documentary will be attending the screening for dialogue and discussion afterwards.

7.      Dawn of a New Day (West Africa)   9 July, 17h @S1

Dawn Of a New Day (West Africa) - A powerful documentary that profiles the Mercy Ship docked off coast of Benin by following a volunteer surgeon and five patients. Through these six characters it shines a bright light on severe access to health issues confronting West Africans and the dire role this ship plays.

PHA3 speaker will be guiding discussion.

8.      Congo in Four Parts  9 July, 20h @S1

A quartet of powerful short films that examines social issues in an impoverished African nation, Congo in Four Acts is an eye-opening exposé that lays bare the reality of everyday life in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Initiated as an educational project to help young filmmakers develop their craft, the end result is an unpolished vérité gem, with an engaging consistency linking the films together. Ladies in Waiting channels Frederick Wiseman as it chronicles the bureaucratic dysfunctions of a Kinshasa maternity ward. Symphony takes us on a staggering tour of the Kinshasa slums. Zero Tolerance is a searing snapshot of sexual violence in east DRC. Mine is a heart-rending examination of a polluted settlement where young children earn meagre wages by breaking rocks. Congo in Four Acts is a fine example of the socio-political advocacy art that can result from putting documentary tools into the hands of local citizens

Speaker of DRC will be attending the discussion following the showing.

9.      Egypt, insights into a revolution     10 July, 14.30h @S1

Two months after the fall of Mubarak regime, bloggers, activists, artists, opinion leaders or simple citizens revisit their Egyptian revolution. How did they feel during the eighteen days of protests who eventually forces Mubarak to abdicate on February 11, 2011 after som thirty years of autocratic presidency? How did the revolution change their lives? What are their hopes and fears whereas Egypt is slowly moving towards democracy.

Sebastien Sauges who produced the documentary will be present at the screening to guide and discuss the theme of the documentary afterwards.

 ADDITIONAL SHOWING

Time:  9 July 11.30 - 13h

Venue: S1

SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE

How is it possible that a poor nation like Cuba, can achieve health Indicators that are on a par with the world’s richest nations?  Even more amazing, is that Cuba leads the world in sending international medical missions to the poor  nations some hit by hurricanes, and many others have suffered their health systems blown apart by World bank-imposed austerity programmes.  This 47 minute film documents how Cuba built its free public health system after the 1959 revolution, making prevention, primary health-care and education, the pillars of the new society. In this film a US medical student remarks ‘” Cuban doctors are in so many countries but you never hear about it.” Now this documentary provides a comprehensive look at a public health system that has inspired South Africa and a host of nations to seek better health-care for the poor majority of their citizens