Durban Film Festival Opens With Rousing Defense of Personal Freedoms, Power of Cinema as South Africa Reflects on 30 Years of Democracy

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias The 45th Durban Intl. Film Festival kicked off Thursday, as the world celebrated the birthday of freedom fighter and South Africa’s first Black president Nelson Mandela, with a rousing defense of hard-won personal liberties and an insistence that the art of cinema remains “as vital as ever.” “As we celebrate 30 years of democracy and with this 45th edition of Durban Intl.

Film Festival opening on Nelson Mandela Day, we also consider the role of cinema and filmmakers in reflecting society and in creating visions of a better world,” festival manager Andrea Voges said at Thursday night’s opening ceremony. “We should never take our freedom and our right to freedom of artistic expression for granted.

Many filmmakers and artists around the world create under extraordinary pressure and in great danger,” she continued. “We see the art form of cinema to be as vital as ever in challenging, confronting, enlightening and entertaining the audience.” It was a fitting start to a festival that was founded during the apartheid era, at a time when the country’s repressive white nationalist regime and its draconian censorship board banned subversive films from reaching South African audiences and used censorship as a tool to suppress the country’s Black majority.

Since its inception, the Durban festival has reflected the spirit of the times — mixed-race audiences at early editions ran the risk of arrest, as cinemas across South Africa were forced to impose segregation laws — and this year’s selection underscores the ongoing struggles of a country still finding its footing three decades into democratic rule. “South Africans are a resilient people, and many of the films in our program depict that resilience, not only.