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Out in Africa Film Festival
Enjoy a line-up of award-winning flicks at Mzansi’s gay and lesbian silver screen fiesta at the V&A Waterfront
Cinephiles, get ready for the 2014 Out in Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which is set to screen at the V&A Waterfront’s Ster Kinekor Cinema Nouveau theatres from Wednesday, 28 May until Sunday, 1 June 2014.
As in the past, the fandango features a series of feature-length films that explore the issues, trials, tribulations and romances in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTQI) worlds. On the cards this time around? A Queer Palm winner at Cannes, a yet-to-be-released-in-South-Africa drama starring Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe and a Q&A with German director Jan Soldat.
Launched at the dawn of South Africa’s democracy to celebrate the clause prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the South African Constitution, the Out in Africa Film Festival is devoted to addressing the lack of visibility of LGBTQI individuals and to providing a platform on which relevant topics can be debated and discussed.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE 2014 OUT IN AFRICA FILM FESTIVAL
After sifting through a ton of submissions, the Out in Africa Film Festival organisers selected the best LGBTQI films of the batch for this year’s movie fandango.
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BOY MEETS GIRL Directed by Eric Schaeffer |
A poignant and sexy coming of age romantic comedy, Boy Meets Girl is a story about three twenty-year-olds living in Kentucky. Robby and his childhood friend Ricky, both of whom have never dated, discuss the dire lack of eligible bachelors in their small hometown. Ricky considers dating a girl, and in walks the young and beautiful debutante Francesca. While Francesca awaits her Marine fiancé’s return from the war, she and Ricky strike up a friendship and, perhaps, something more. This development forces Robby to deal with his true feelings for Ricky. A positive and contemporary tale that addresses issues across all gender and sexual orientation lines. |
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CONCUSSION Directed by Stacie Passon |
Abby is a charming, very honest, curious, and hopelessly restless suburban lesbian housewife. She leads a model life in a comfortable home with her two cute tykes. After suffering a whack to the head and a subsequent concussion, Abby starts to see the world differently. Consequently, she transforms herself into Eleanor, a high-end lesbian escort. This alternate persona is Abby’s polar opposite; she’s sensual, self-possessed and very secretive. Concussion is a keen observation of the complicated contours of midlife crisis and addresses the ways in which we cope with the discovery of the missing element in our lives. |
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KILL YOUR DARLINGS Directed by John Krokidas |
A murdery mystery-meets-biopic of Beat Generation icon Allen Ginsberg, Kill Your Darlings – starring Daniel Radcliffe from Harry Potter fame – is set in the famous poet’s early years at Columbia University. It’s 1944, and Ginsberg has fallen under the charismatic spell of handsome classmate Lucien Carr and befriended fellow beat authors William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. When David Kammerer, an older outsider who’s also enamoured with Carr, dies under mysterious circumstances, police look at Kerouac, Burroughs, and Carr as potential suspects. The investigation would go on to have a major impact on the lives of these three artists. |
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STRANGER BY THE LAKE Directed by Alain Guiraudie |
The Cannes Queer Palm Award-winning French flick Stranger by the Lake is a candid portrait of passion and murder at a secluded cruising spot. Set alongside a lake, the film follows the handsome Franck, who is a daily visitor to the nude beach. Emboldened by his search for lovers, the young man befriends Henri, a lonely middle-aged beach-goer, and becomes obsessed with the good-looking, yet dark Michel. Even after witnessing a violent late-night encounter between Michel and his partner, Franck remains resolute on attracting the volatile Michel’s attention. As strikingly beautiful and stark as its location, Stranger by the Lake is a minimalist erotic thriller that utilises arresting cinematography and very little dialogue to illustrate how human identity is defined and, sometimes, held hostage by our innermost desires and passions. |
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A WEEKEND IN GERMANY Directed by Jan Soldat THE INCOMPLETE Directed by Jan Soldat Documentary |
Jan Soldat presents viewers with a provocative, outrageous and touching documentary double-bill. A Weekend In Germany documents two men (Manfred and Jürgen) in their 70s, who happily indulge in their favourite suburban Saturday pastimes of sunbaths, microwave lunches and S&M bondage. The doccie follows the couple as they share their erotic online videos with the world and debate the merits of fetish masks and online hook-ups, all while fending off Jehova’s Witnesses. On the other hand, The Incomplete is a short documentary that looks at the unlikely life of Klaus Johannes Wolf, who is, in his own words, “60 years old… gay… slave.” A tax advisor by day during the week and a slave in his spare time, Klaus performs duties for various ‘masters’ that include housework and enduring severe beatings. Klaus signs up for a slave camp and reminisces about his father, who was a Wehrmacht officer. At the helm of this candid journey, Klaus guides audiences out of the shadows of the taboo and into a new light on lust, love and being naked. In both documentaries, Jan Soldat takes viewers behind closed doors to address deep fears and desires. |
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GUEST SPEAKER: |
Each festival, the organisers strive to give audiences the opportunity to chat to the masterminds behind the films that screen. This year, movie-goers will get a chance to engage with director Jan Soldat after the screenings of his two documentary shorts: A Weekend in Germany and The Incomplete. |
SCHEDULE FOR THE 2014 OUT IN AFRICA FILM FESTIVAL
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DATE |
TIME |
STER KINEKOR CINEMA NOUVEAU V&A WATERFRONT |
|
28 MAY |
6:45pm |
Kill Your Darlings |
|
29 MAY |
7pm |
Boy Meets Girl |
|
9pm |
Stranger By the Lake |
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30 MAY |
6:45pm |
Concussion |
|
8:45pm |
Boy Meets Girl |
|
|
31 MAY |
6:45pm |
Concussion |
|
8:45pm |
A Weekend in Germany, The Incomplete and Q&A with Jan Soldat |
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1 JUN |
6:45pm |
Stranger By the Lake |
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8:45pm |
A Weekend in Germany, The Incomplete and Q&A with Jan Soldat |
TICKETS FOR THE 2014 OUT IN AFRICA FILM FESTIVAL
Tickets are available at the V&A Waterfront’s Ster Kinekor Cinema Nouveau theatres and cost R67p/p and all concessions apply. To book, contact the booking line +27 (0) 82 16789 or visit CinemaNouveau.co.za.
Do note that all films have an 18 and over age limit.
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