Page 37 - DIFF PROGRAMME 2024

THE NIGHTS STILL SMELL OF GUNPOWDER
Inadelso Cossa, Mozambique, Germany, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, 2024, 93 min, Tsonga, Portuguese with English subtitles
21 JULY 19:30 GATEWAY 9 23 JULY 19:30 SUNCOAST 7
Immersed in Mozambique’s intricate history the film reclaims lost fragments of history and confronts the haunting ghosts persisting in the darkness of societal erasure. Returning to his grandmother Maria’s village, the filmmaker is driven by a personal quest to expose the untold stories of his childhood during the Civil War. The film is a sensory exploration of personal and collective memory, originating from childhood vacations amid the civil war’s paradox. In the village, echoes of a former rebel mirror the haunting presence of perpetrators and victims, intertwining day and night, reality and imagination. The ghosts of war that inhabit the former rebel possess the present.
The Showerhead examines the work of cartoonist Zapiro, from his period as an anti- apartheid struggle-artist to his enduring role as a progressive commentator and freedom- of-expression champion. A review of former President Jacob Zuma’s scandal-ridden ascent, reign, and ultimate ousting, via his cartoons which capture issues in the post-Mandela period - corruption, subversion of the Constitution and the rule of law, and threats to freedom of expression. The film considers freedom of expression in contemporary South Africa with reference to the boundaries tested in Zapiro’s cartoons and his resolute defiance of attempts to stifle his work and affirms his continuing relevance.
THE SHOWERHEAD
Craig Tanner, South Africa, 2024, 99 min, English
27 JULY 19:30 SUNCOAST 1 28 JULY 17:00 SUNCOAST 7
45TH DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 35