After a two-year break, the Joburg Film Festival will return on Tuesday, 31 January 2023 with a selection of over 60 films from around the world, including South African feature Surviving Gaza.
The festival will showcase “some of the finest films from over 35 countries across the globe, including 20 African premieres and 27 South African premieres,” a statement from its publicists said on Wednesday (7 December).
Joburg Film Festival 2023
The six-day Joburg Film Festival will end on Sunday, 5 February 2023 and screenings will take place at various locations across Johannesburg.
The festival boasts a well-known and globally respected team, including Zimbabwean-born, internationally renowned Festival Curator Keith Shiri and Film Festival Programmer Jack Chiang. The line-up includes films from South Africa, Tunisia, Brazil, Seoul, Brazil, USA, Japan and Morocco, with a mix of feature films and documentaries showcasing stories that cross cultural boundaries.
Several stars, producers and directors will also participate in Q&A sessions after select screenings across the programme. Fans will get a chance to interact with stars during daily red-carpet premieres.
The festival will also include a selection of films from the Africa Film Heritage Project, a partnership between the Federation of Pan African Filmmakers (FEPACI), Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project along with its affiliate archive, the Cineteca di Bologna, and UNESCO. The aim of the project has been to restore and preserve 50 African films with historical, cultural and artistic significance.
“The Joburg Film Festival offers a multicultural international standard cinema experience for film lovers young and old, right in the heart of Joburg. Not only does the festival showcase thought-provoking and debate-stoking films from around the world, but also brings back the nostalgic storytelling from yesteryear via this selection of films being screen. Everyone is welcome to join the celebration,” Executive Director Timothy Mangwedi said.
“We pride ourselves in propelling the art of storytelling to our audiences. Not only do we showcase the best of local and international films on our platforms, but we also get behind programmes and initiatives like the Joburg Film Festival to further support the dissemination of quality content, further feeding our audience’s love for film and television,” Collen Dlamini Group Executive Corporate Affairs added on behalf of MultiChoice, which is the festival’s partner.
Screenings will take place in cinemas in Soweto, Maboneng, Sandton and Rosebank. Tickets will be on sale from 9th January 2023 via Quicket.
Joburg Film Festival 2023 selection
The Joburg Film Festival 2023 selection includes the local feature Surviving Gaza, which follows the life and struggles of Phuzi and his friends living in the lawless Gaza, who dream of Kwaito stardom.
Others include the following:
- The multi-award winning 2022 feature film Utuma, set in the Bolivian highlands and tenderly portraying an elderly Quechua couple going through the difficulties of everyday life.
- Miss Osaka, which is shot in Denmark, Norway and Japan and with a touching storyline that follows a young lady as she searches for the answers to life and finds herself along the way.
- A Far Shore, a 2022 Japanese film about a poverty-stricken, underage mother dealing with an abusive husband.
- South African doccie Music Is My Life, which offers an engaging account of the life of Joseph Shabalala and his rise to international fame with his band Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
- The locally produced Time Spent With Cats Is Never Wasted, a 172-minutes-long feature that captures one man’s battle with the world around him. Watch its trailer on YouTube.
To view the full selection list, visit the official Joburg Film Festival website.