Labia on Orange, 20:00 hours. "Sorry, Paradise Now is sold out," the lady behind the counter says. "But there are some tickets left for Bal Can Can". To prevent dissappointment, we from CapeTownMagazine.com advise you to get your tickets early or even better, to make reservations.

Until November 20 Cape Town is the host of the fourth Cape Town World Cinema Festival. During the following days, 172 feature films and short movies from across the world will be shown all over Cape Town, from the V&A Waterfront to the townships of Nyanga and Gugulethu.

Amongst the films, an interesting selection of South African productions. As for instance Tsotsi and the award winning opera film u-Carmen eKhayelitsha. Tsotsi tells the story of a hardcore gang leader in Johannesburg, who ends up caring for a baby kidnapped during a car jacking. The movie puts a face to both victims and perpetrators of crime.

The Cape Town World Cinema Festival showcases, like it did the last years, a range of movies dealing with African issues. As for instance King Leopold's Ghost, which tells the dramatic story of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the era of the Belgium King Leopold II.

Leopold II - driven by superiority and greed - plundered, abused and emptied the country while killing and torturing about 10 million people. He created a monstrous society characterized by violence, corruption, and heartlessness. A society that rules the DRC still today.

Another film dealing with issues in Africa and specifically issues in the Great Lakes District is Shooting Dogs, which focuses on the Genocide in Rwanda. The movie tells the story about an idealistic teacher and an exhausted priest, caught in the horror of  the genocide that killed over one million of Rwandese in 1994.

While the United Nations fail to act upon the atrocities, the two men have to make the most difficult decision of their lives: to run to safety and to get away from it all, or to undertake action and to save lives.

These and many other films can be viewed at:

    * Artscape Theatre Centre
    * Cinema Nouveau on the V&A Waterfront
    * V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre (short films)
    * Labia Theatre on Orange Street
    * Cinemax in Mitchell's Plain
    * The Kismet in Athlone
    * The Fawu Hall in Gugulethu
    * The Zolani Multi-Purpose Hall in Nyanga

(Source: CapeTownMagazine.com / Miriam Mannak)