Dir: Marwan Khneisser
Year: 2010
Dur: 9 min, Documentary
Lebanon
Lebanese and Arabic with English subtitles

On the 7th of August 2006, a bomb blast destroyed a residential building in the neighborhood of Chiyah, Beirut, Lebanon. In the moments leading up to the blast, this intimate film innocently follows two children as they play inside the building without worrying about the war that surrounds them. Amongst the many adventures of their night, they rescue a cat, deliver freshly cooked food to their newly arrived neighbours and avoid the crazy man living upstairs. As they ascend the pealing staircase of their building a mesmerizing shower of pamphlets draws them onto the rooftop.

This visceral short film is a tribute to Sandile Dikeni’s poem by the same name. A solider returns home plagued by the horror of war. As he slips between reality and tortured memory he must rediscover family and community he had to leave behind. But the violence of the battlefield has followed him home.
Filmmaker in attendance

Set in the autumn of 2008 when a shocking wave of xenophobic attacks against foreign immigrants spread across South Africa, Protect the Nation a takes a look inside the struggles of a community and the consequences of greed, miscommunication and hate. This earnest short follows the exploits of a young boy through the twisting alleys of Alexandra Township as he plots his own survivor’s guide to the neighbourhood and tries to decipher the moral code of the streets. When he encounters the unexpected kindness of a stranger, he begins to question himself. As terror, greed and hatred descend on the township, does he have the courage to do what’s right?

• Winner, Best Short Film - Black Hills Film Festival 2011
• Official Selections - New York Film Fest 2010

The Tailored Suit tells the story of Matilda, a young woman who grows up in rural South Africa in the 1940s. She dreams of moving to the city, a place promising liberation and emancipation, for the “Modern African Miss”. It is a place where girls wear high-heeled shoes and earn their own living, where new jobs offer the Modern Miss a life that’s her own. She discovers a path to the city through a marriage that ultimately turns oppressive. Her expectations of freedom dashed by an overbearing, controlling husband, Matilda retreats into memories of those she loved. From the confines of her stifled existence, infidelity, a suit and a party change the course of the marriage, propelling Matilda on a journey of self-discovery.
Filmmaker in attendance

Dir: Rolie Nikiwe
Year: 2011
Dur: 25 min, Short Fiction
South Africa
English and Xhosa with English subtitles

They say, ubuhle bendoda zinkomo zayo - the measure of a man’s beauty is in his wealth. Nomandla is in the final stages of her traditional Xhosa wedding to her long- time love, the eligible and wealthy Makhosi . When she discovers the devastating secret he harbours, she must decide between fighting for the glamour of her marriage or for her heart. Where does the measure of beauty truly lie? Umtshato is a lyrical short story played by a strong South African cast, who are skillfully directed to deliver delicate, intuitive performances.
Filmmaker in attendance

It’s another 120-degree day with five more days to Christmas. The acceleration of global warming has caused the sun to become a tangible threat to survival. Bato, an expecting father, enters into a race against the sun, the birth, his community, and his own identity to save his family as he is forced to sell the new currency of this world.
Filmmaker in attendance