Page 34 - DIFF PROGRAMME 2024

DOCUMENTARIES
DON’T BE LATE FOR MY FUNERAL
Diana Keam, South Africa, 2024, 53 min, English, Tswana with English subtitles
20 JULY 14:30 SUNCOAST 7 23 JULY 17:30 PAVILION 12
In a rural town in South Africa, the filmmaker undertakes a journey to visit her family’s retired domestic worker and nanny Margaret Bogopa Matlala. The impact of Margaret’s wisdom, not only on multiple generations of Diana’s family but on her own family too is profound. Both families come together in the “new” South Africa to celebrate Margaret’s 80th birthday. Her unwavering strength and indomitable spirit are a beacon, illuminating the exploration of human resilience. This is an intimate behind-the-scenes exploration of a life lived against the backdrop of apartheid and touched by births, deaths, weddings, domestic violence, celebrations, and suicide.
The life of Olfa, a Tunisian woman and mother of four daughters, oscillates between light and shadow. One day, her two eldest daughters disappear. To fill their absence, director Kaouther Ben Hania calls upon professional actors and sets up an extraordinary film mechanism to unveil the story of Olfa and her daughters. An intimate journey full of hope, rebellion, violence, intergenerational transmission, and sisterhood, which questions the very foundation of our societies.
With unprecedented access to Taiwan’s sitting head of state, director Vanessa Hope investigates the election and tenure of Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president of Taiwan. Thorough, incisive, and bristling with tension, this is a living account of her tightrope walk as she balances the hopes and dreams of her nation between the colossal geopolitical forces of the U.S. and China. At a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated the ever-present threat of authoritarian aggression, Invisible Nation brings punctual focus to the struggle of Taiwan as it fights for autonomy and freedom from fear.
FOUR DAUGHTERS
Kaouther Ben Hania, France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, 2023, 107 min, Arabic with English subtitles
20 JULY 14:00 SUNCOAST 8 28 JULY 17:30 PAVILION 12
INVISIBLE NATION
Vanessa Hope, United States, Taiwan, 2023, 85 min, English, Mandarin with English subtitles
22 JULY 17:30 PAVILION 12 23 JULY 19:30 GATEWAY 9
32 45TH DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL