Page 43 - DIFF PROGRAMME 2024

PRIMETIME MOTHER
1
Sonny Calvento, Philippines, 2023, 15 min, Filipino with English subtitles
19 JULY 17:45 GATEWAY 8 22 JULY 17:30 GATEWAY 9 23 JULY 17:15 GATEWAY 9
Minda, a forty-five-year-old mother, desires nothing more than to join and win the popular and highly rewarding television game show, My Amazing Mama. However, in the Philippines, where thousands of people rely on television game shows to earn money, competition is fierce. Minda is set to endure several hilarious and oftentimes demeaning obstacles for her to succeed at winning the daily cash prize. While her child’s condition worsens at home, these hurdles will transform her from a devoted mother into an even more devoted mother who earns the admiration of all those around her.
In an isolated prairie home, a young girl shoulders the burden of caring for her three siblings and navigating a dysfunctional relationship with their mother. When the mother mysteriously transforms into a bird and abandons her children, this resilient eldest sister struggles to maintain their isolated existence. As the siblings each undergo a metamorphosis into animals and forsake her for the enchanting forest, she faces a poignant choice: embrace her own transformation and join them in the vast wilderness or defy fate, embracing her scarred humanity, and venture into the towns and cities of the world to forge her own destiny.
Bing, a feisty former dancer in her fifties, begins to reflect on her age, sexual pleasure and loneliness after the salon manager suggests getting vaginal rejuvenating surgery.
RETURN TO HAIRY HILL
1
Daniel Gies, Canada, 2023, 17 min, No Dialogue
19 JULY 17:45 GATEWAY 8 22 JULY 17:30 GATEWAY 9 23 JULY 17:15 GATEWAY 9
RETURN TO YOUTH
2
Mel Sangyi Zhao, 2023, 17 min, Kinesisk with English subtitles
21 JULY 12:00 SUNCOAST 7 24 JULY 17:30 GATEWAY 9
45TH DURBAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 41