THE TRI CONTINENTAL FILM FESTIVAL OPENS IN PORT ELIZABETH SEPTEMBER 14 – 18

The Tri Continental Travelling Film Festival presents a four-day run of social impact films in venues across Port Elizabeth.

Partnering the Centre for Integrated Post-School Education and Training, the festival opens at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Missionvale Campus, on Monday 14 September, with the Oscar winning documentary CitizenFour.

“Most of the CitizenFour takes place over the period of a week in a hotel room in Hong Kong. Edward Snowden has blown thewhistle on the NSA and film director Laura Poitras and Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald are holed up with him as he hides from the authorities and releases information on the shocking extent of US surveillance of ordinary citizens. What is relevant for us in South Africa is that we also face abusive surveillance practices and need to raise awareness of the right to privacy as a political freedom.” (Anita Khanna, Festival Director).  

The festival has a focus on gender justice. Feminist filmmaker Kim Longinotto’s film Dreamcatcher, screens twice over the four days. Dreamcatcher is an inspiring tale of a former sex worker who has turned her life around and now helps women and girls to end the cycle of abuse, neglect and violence.

“This is a film that should be shown to school students, in universities and women’s groups across the country. The film takes place in Chicago, but the women we meet and the things they face are very relevant to South Africa.” (Anita Khanna, Festival Director)

Three South African films will screen as part of the Port Elizabeth tour. Ryley Grunenwald’s The Shore Break, an Eastern Cape story of a community battling against titanium mining, has taken the country by storm. In Laura Fletcher’s African Pride, we meet a group of black lesbians who are combatting hate crime against LGBTI people in their communities. And then, Maanda Ntsandeni’s Parole Camp is an exceptional inside view of what becomes of a society that neglects its young.

“Parole Camp, takes us to the root cause of crime, which is poverty, fuelled by high levels of drug abuse and absent parents. It invites us to explore and challenge the roots of the problem.” (Nhlanhla Ndaba, Festival Co-Director)

A mixed crowd is expected at most screenings. University students, civil society, and film lovers who don’t get the chance to see these movies in local theatres. The Port Elizabeth festival will stick to the TCFF tradition of inviting local activists and organisations to address the audience. Right from the start, TCFF has tried not to leave audiences stranded after watching a hard-hitting film. Impact cinema is all about people asking what they can do to assist social change, and this is a chance for local groups in PE to be ready with a response, be it on the defense of democracy, youthjustice or women’s rights.

The festival closes with a Friday night screening of Democrats, at the South End Museum.