South Africa’s longest-running film festival, the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), has opened entries for its 2021 event under the theme “Framing the Future, Cinema Unleashed”.
Regarded as one of the leading film festivals on the African continent, filmmakers are invited to to submit their feature films, documentaries and short films for the 42nd edition taking place from July 22 to August 1, 2021.
Head of Programming and Curator of the DIFF, Chipo Zhou, said 2020 turned the world topsy-turvy and the film industry was not spared.
“Although some of us adapted, for some, it was a completely devastating experience. As the year comes to an end, DIFF is evaluating the gains and losses looking to envision what the next few years will look like, but we choose to be optimistic and hopeful.”
She said the DIFF has been a space for critical engagement on contemporary issues told through the audio-visual gaze and the 42nd edition would be no different.
“We are officially opening the call for submissions, looking for future centric films, narratives that look with hope to tomorrow. The festival is specifically looking to showcase films that provide meaningful solutions on how to adapt in our dynamic and ever-changing environment.
“We are looking for films that offer solutions to questions that haven’t been asked yet, that broaden our viewpoints and allow for robust critical discourse. We celebrate the disruption of the embedded canonical film centres internationally and position the DIFF as the African hub where innovative film voices are discovered and born – this is the onward journey of the DIFF,” Zhou said.
DIFF is receiving submission through FilmFreeway. For eligibility, submission fees and to submit, please visit the DIFF profile: www.filmfreeway.com/durbanfilmfest. The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2021.