Even in the best of times, a young film festival might expect growing pains as it preps for its third edition. But the organizers of the Africa Rising Intl. Film Festival, which ran online and in Johannesburg,, from Nov. 27-29, were faced with the additional and monumental task of pulling it off in the midst of a global pandemic.
“The theme this year was ‘Film for Change,’ and how narratives can really start conversations that can move us forward as a community,” Sithebe tells. “We thought as a film festival, we cannot just ignore what’s going on around us. As a global community, we’ve been through a lot. And we thought…[about] what can film and storytelling do for our societies.”
Sithebe is the creator of the South African industry digital portal Actor Spaces, and has spent much of his career training actors from disadvantaged communities, an experience that he brought to bear on one of the founding pillars of the Africa Rising Festival. Along with physical screenings in downtown Johannesburg, ARIFF hosted a number of online masterclasses and panel discussions centered on much-needed skills development for aspiring filmmakers, while also addressing some of the structural issues facing the South African industry, particularly in terms of representation for Black, female, and LGBTQ filmmakers. “From a transformation point of view, it still lags very much behind,” says Tuku.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: billboard - 🏆 112. / 63 Read more »
Source: Variety - 🏆 108. / 63 Read more »
Source: DEADLINE - 🏆 109. / 63 Read more »
Source: Variety - 🏆 108. / 63 Read more »
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »