For Brazilian director Vladimir Seixas the sun is rising anew for filmmakers in his country after the end of years of Jair Bolsonaro rule. The helmer known for his searing investigative work on Brazil’s urban, social and cultural transformations, says that now is the time for documentary makers in his…
Joburg Film Festival
When South African director John Barker was seven years old, the Johannesburg native experienced Cape Town’s Minstrel Carnival for the first time. The annual celebration, which is rooted in the traditions of slaves dating back to the early years of colonial rule, is a colorful, raucous pageant unique to the…
The fifth Joburg Film Festival wrapped Sunday night with the caper comedy “The Umbrella Men,” from homegrown director John Barker, a local premiere that cast and crew celebrated by promenading through Nelson Mandela Square with brightly colored parasols. Earlier in the week, the first edition of the JBX Content Market…
Saturday night meant another feather in the cap for Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy, whose Arab-language social satire “Feathers” took the Best Film prize on the awards night of the 5th Joburg Film Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. His story centers on a father who literally turns into a chicken…
New York Times bestselling author turned TV creator Taiye Selasi captivated a packed theater at the Joburg Film Festival this week, acknowledging that the deck is stacked against Black female creators in Hollywood, but insisting that the power of African women remained in their ability to overcome any obstacle in…
The Joburg Film Festival defiantly went ahead with a screening of Ousmane Sembène’s “Black Girl” on Thursday, refusing to bow to political pressure after South Africa’s Film and Publications Board (FPB) denied it permission to hold a public screening of the Senegalese director’s groundbreaking debut. In a decision that shocked…
Laugh all you want but the success of filmmaker Brett Michael Innes’ first foray into mockumentary territory with “Daryn’s Gym” is part of a growing South African slate flexing its muscles within a comedy genre no longer considered “too refined” for local audiences’ taste. The Nostalgia Productions mockumentary feature –…
Amazon Prime Video has closed a multi-picture licensing agreement with South Africa’s Known Associates, the parent company of Johannesburg-based Known Associates Entertainment (KAE) and Cape Town-based Moonlighting Films, the company announced Thursday during the Joburg Film Festival. The deal grants Prime Video exclusive SVOD access to over 20 South African…
When Netflix dropped its first African Original, “Queen Sono,” in 2020, it was widely heralded as a gamechanger for African filmmakers expecting a wave of investment from global streaming giants in their cash-strapped creative industries. While that prediction has largely panned out, with the Los Gatos-based streamer and Amazon Prime…
NBA legend Magic Johnson, Oscar winner Samuel L. Jackson and Tony-nominated actor, director and producer LaTanya Richardson Jackson are among the latest backers of Statement Films, a women-led entertainment start-up that was created to bridge the gap between African and diaspora women creators and the global marketplace. The company announced…
Returning to Johannesburg cinemas for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Joburg Film Festival kicked off its 5th edition with a joyful relaunch on Tuesday night, as local luminaries walked a gold carpet in Nelson Mandela Square in honor of the festival’s slogan,…
African streaming service Showmax has inked a two-series slate deal with Tshedza Pictures, the South African production company behind the International Emmy-nominated telenovela “The River,” the company announced Tuesday at the start of the Joburg Film Festival. “Adulting,” Tshedza’s first Showmax Original, is an eight-part drama series set in the…