Page 26 - DIFF PROGRAMME 2024

FEATURE FILMS
FALLEN LEAVES
Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, Germany, 2023, 81 min, Finnish with English subtitles
21 JULY 14:00 GATEWAY 8 28 JULY 17:30 SUNCOAST 8
Winner of the Jury Prize at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in 2023, Kaurismäki’s 20th full-length film continues his Proletariat series. It tells the story of Ansa, a supermarket shelf-stocker on a zero-hour contract, later a recyclable plastic sorter, and Holappa, a sandblaster, an alcoholic, later an ex-alcoholic, whose paths have accidentally crossed and who, despite adversity and misunderstandings, try to build some kind of relationship on the harsher side of the welfare state. As dour as it may sound, this is an unexpectedly uplifting film with its droll, deadpan humour, and poignant central story of two lonely souls connecting.
In a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance; but her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother who was never permitted to come of age herself. Tender feelings emerge in the whirlpool of burgeoning sexual awareness of the teenage female protagonist but is there a defined way to grow up? There are no easy answers as tensions and tempers rise. A confident and deeply empathetic debut revealing the complexities of female relationships.
In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the ‘green border’ between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine. 30 years after EUROPA EUROPA, three-time Oscar Nominee Agnieszka Holland’s poignant new feature opens our eyes, speaks to the heart, and challenges us to reflect on the moral choices that fall to ordinary people every day.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
Shuchi Talati, India, France, USA, Norway, 2024, 118 min, English, Hindi with English subtitles
21 JULY 20:15 SUNCOAST 8 28 JULY 19:30 SUNCOAST 8
GREEN BORDER
Agnieszka Holland, Poland, Czech Republic, France, Belgium, 2023, 147 min, Polish, Arabic, English, French with English subtitles
21 JULY 16:30 GATEWAY 8 26 JULY 19:30 PAVILION 12
24 45TH DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL