The Africa’s premier documentary festival, the
Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, has been
postponed. The festival, now in its 22nd year, was due to run in June, but due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be postponed until August or September
2020.
Encounters Festival Director Mandisa Zitha said, “The
Board and the Organising Team have delayed the decision to postpone the
festival for as long as they could, however it is clearly not possible to hold
the event in June as planned”.
She continued, “We have paid careful attention to
responses by our international counterparts in applying innovative online
programmes and we are exploring plans to deliver some programmes to our
constituency in a similar way. Our commitment is to honor the excellent films
programmed with a platform that promotes them to an engaged local audience and
allows for conversations to happen around the topics chosen. The safety of our
patrons is paramount hence the decision to adopt appropriate online platforms.”
The Encounters Festival also features
workshops, industry master classes and discussions. As part of this the South
African Guild Of Editors (SAGE) / Encounters Rough Cut Lab has also been
postponed. The Lab offers professional support and mentoring for three
documentary projects which are in the “rough cut” phase. The deadline for
submissions has been extended to 5 June 2020.
Renowned for its contemporary and cosmopolitan programme,
the Encounters Festival features both South African and world premières, as
well as award-winning work fresh from the international documentary circuit. It
is one of the oldest festivals on the continent, and actively supports and
promotes local and African films, filmmakers and festivals to an international
market.
While the film programme for 2020 has yet to be
finalised, several acclaimed documentaries will have their African premieres at
the festival and a number of international documentary winners have been
confirmed. The full list will be announced on May 30th.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Joy Sapieka and Associates
Email: joyls@mweb.co.za
Tel: +27 (0)73 212 5492 (SA)
Tel: +44 (0)7818 636 278(UK)
