Docs showing at this year’s Festival

Shot on a mobile phone during lockdown in Gqeberha, South Africa, a filmmaker contemplates creating within an unchanging frame of reference. The film centres around her home, The Blue House, a tribute to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo was her source …

This delicately observed document of a halfway house in Eastern Ukraine, for children who have been removed from their parents, is gently transcendent despite its bleak subject matter. Following the lives of several of the children, the film allows its young protagonists to lead the way rather than imposing any preconceptions on them.

It is a high-stakes mock legal battle played out in the constitutional court, where the prize is glory in a continent-wide contest called the African Moot. The story follows the emotional journey of Africa’s future human rights law students as they gather to debate the human rights issues currently facing Africa.

Among Us Women places the voices of the women front and centre as they identify the physical, cultural and structural factors that prevent them from accessing medical care during pregnancy and childbirth.

A short film about an Afro-Colombian erotic poet who runs a Pan-African bookshop in Barcelona.

The film looks at the work and life of Angel Ho, driven by their personal reflections as they discuss topics of international queer communities, mental illness and self expression.

Atypical chronicles the struggles of three brave individuals battling mental health issues, particularly eating disorders.

An intergenerational documentary that follows Barry, a Jamaican-born beekeeper who has been the heart of his local community in Liverpool for over 20 years.

Revealing the isolation and emptiness of the city during the pandemic in Russia, Bless You! Examines the uncertainty and concern expressed by people without full knowledge or access to information about the virus at the beginning of the pandemic. Throu …

Engaging with women and non-binary people across the film sector, Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power brilliantly explores the male gaze in cinema. Adapted from a lecture given by filmmaker Nina Menkes, this powerful documentary dissects the elements that contribute to the objectification of women by the camera, and the audience by extension.

Cesária Évora is a beautiful homage to the “barefoot diva” and follows her journey and hardships through performing, poverty, mental health and alcohol struggles. With personal footage, unreleased recordings and interviews from close collaborators, fri …

Through the voices of the Johannesburg youth, CODA explores the internal conversations that people have when they are at a time of transition. 

Sonia, resident of a beachside property, patiently documents the erosion caused by the sea as it advances into the beach and approaches her home.

Container makes visible the ‘invisiblized’ bodies enabling our consumer society. Confronting slavery through an ever-transforming shipping container, the past becomes the present, the invisible become visible. We witness the shards of society: the ghos …

Dalia looks into the experiences of immigrant workers from across Africa that have found themselves working in salons in South Africa.

Dark Silence on Sports Avenue portrays the life of Ian Barker, an elderly man born to a wealthy family in Houghton, who is now forced to live in Bertrams, a working-class neighbourhood.

Featuring interviews with conservations, archivists, restorers, technicians and curators from around the world, as well as some of world cinema’s leading lights, Film, The Living Record Of Our Memory is truly global and inclusive in its scope.

This insightful chronicle of the life of legendary human rights advocate, George Bizos, is a timely reminder of where we have come from and how we got to where we are as a country. From his early friendship with Nelson Mandela, to his central involvement in the Rivonia Trial and numerous other seminal legal events, to his role in the authoring of the South African constitution, Bizos’ life was so intimately linked to key political events that this film should be required viewing for anyone interested in the history of the country.

When their three-day-old baby goes missing from Groote Schuur Hospital, the event comes to define the lives of Celeste and Mourne Nurse. Over the course of the next 17 years, they move through a relentless cycle of hope and despair, never giving up the search for Zephany, their missing daughter. Girl, Taken provides a full account of a story that has long occupied South Africa’s imagination.

In an intimate exploration of an old mans life, Grandpa Ernest Speaks looks at the impulse of filmmakers’ grandfather to record his life story. Recounting his life on tape at the close of his life, Madeleine Bazil breathes new life into her grandfather …

Before lockdown, things were already very difficult for Dorcas and Sarah, two migrant Zimbabwean women living in Spruit informal settlement in Tshwane.

The film charts Hlophe’s journey from several years before her wedding up until the big day, during which time she documents numerous lobola negotiations around the country in an effort to properly research the issues.

A South African born in the early 1900s when culture was religion, Manche Masemola died for her Christian beliefs at the age of 15. Having become widely popular after her death and being depicted in a statue above Westminster Abbey, London’s Great West Door, this intriguing documentary examines the events surrounding her death through interviews with the people who were familiar with the story and those from her village.

Music is My Life provides an engaging account of the life of Joseph Shabalala and his rise to international fame with his band Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Navalny provides an account of Alexei Navalny, Russia’s former opposition leader, in the wake of his poisoning in August 2020. Made with remarkable access to its subject and his family and colleagues, the film follows Navalny as he recuperates in Berlin and unravels the at times ludicrously stupid plot to kill him, assisted by the forensic skills of the citizen-powered investigative unit Bellingcat.

As peace in South Sudan hangs in the balance, a mother and her two daughters return home from exile. The mother’s mission is to safeguard her late husband’s vision while her daughters struggle with what it means to call South Sudan home.

As a young man, Ike Nnaebue tried to flee to Europe. Twenty years later, he retraces the steps of his journey back then to find out what motivates people today to expose themselves to the dangers of a passage into an uncertain future.

One Take Grace portrays an intricate look into the life of a domestic worker who has dreams of becoming something more.

Queen! is a 15-minute poetic-expository documentary investigating the drag queen culture within the South African context, based on men and non-binaries who have performed drag in and outside apartheid.

In this short documentary, we share with you researched origins of modern homophobia and queerphobia, while exposing hidden truths about the English bible.

Section 16 details the work and challenges of four female South African investigative journalists and the challenges they face as they work to break some of the most significant stories. Ferial Haffajee, Marianne Thamm, Pauli van Wyk and Caryn Dolley h …

Displaying the significance of documentary as a tool for historical preservation, September Girls examines the response of school girls to recent accounts of Dulcie September.

Sonder is a visual observation of life in a community, documenting the movement of people as the sun rises and sets.

In Sounds of Home: A Musical Odyssey in Rwanda, Michael Makembe, a musical Nomad who travels Rwanda’s villages by boat, captures the ancestral sounds of the people.

Summer of Soul is not only a document of a vitally important cultural event but also a reminder of the way in which film is at the very core of modern history and collective memory.

This captivating and heartfelt account features interviews with survivors of the storm to reveal how the sea has shaped their paths 10 years after its tragic events.

Boubacar Gadiaga, a father and husband from a village in Mali puts his life on the line to provide for his family.

Divided into 14 chapters inspired by the stations of the cross, the film revisits Tulsa massacre, the worst incident of racial violence in American history.

The Conductor illuminates the world of classical music performance today through the life of the astonishing internationally renowned conductor Marin Alsop. As one of the first female conductors, with stunning accomplishments including winning the MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant and currently holding the position of the music director of three orchestras internationally, the film reveals Alsop’s struggles and triumphs to reach the top.

This cultural history of Athlone, one of Apartheid’s ‘dumping grounds’ for the victims of forced removals, is something of a delight, providing an intimate snapshot of a bygone era that continues to live in the hearts and imaginations of many of the town?s residents.

Set in the Italian town of Matera, where both Pasolini and Gibson’s films about the life of Christ were shot due to its visual similarity to Jerusalem, The New Gospel reframes the biblical narrative in the context of a profoundly unequal 21st Century and reclaims Jesus as a social revolutionary.

Prison Promise offers a portrait of love and community as Détyr and Adéle navigate their reintegration into normal society. The film highlights the role of the family and of community in rehabilitating people who have had challenges with the law.

The Radical introduces us to 54-year-old Muhsin Hendricks, a South African man believed to be the first openly gay imam. Hendricks leads a devoted group of queer muslims, having started an organisation to support the LGBTQI+ community and running a personal empowerment programme that helps muslims reconcile their sexuality with their faith.

The Veil blends poetry and documentary in an exploration of family, lineage and religious space.

As an indigenous language of South Africa, The Voice Behind The Wall explores the history of Afrikaans through its use in music. With the help of artists who contributed to Afrikaans’ cultural development, this documentary aims to show how it evolved from working-class music of the early 1930s to a voice advocating for the unjust apartheid system in the 1980s.

This Side of Fabulous reveals the vibrant world of belly dancing by following a group of women from all walks of life as they use dance to reconnect with their minds and bodies.

This unique feature-length documentary consists entirely of three minutes of amateur home movie footage which briefly documents a Jewish community in Nasielsk, Poland, just a year before the Nazis invaded the town, eventually killing nearly everyone we see in the grainy moving images.

Transactions follows a relatable Zimbabwean family with members scattered across the globe. From South Africa to the United Kingdom, Katedza investigates the causes and effects of migration, tracing the contradictions inherent via the lives of the family members living abroad but carrying home with them.

Tribe is a celebration of differences, chosen family and the unfailing power of community.

Water is Water relates people of colour’s experiences of segregation and displacement from Cape Town’s beaches during Apartheid.

The film follows Norah, a woman who became a close comrade and friend of Winnie during her seven years in Brandfort, Free State.

An Nisaa (Women) uses objects, symbols, visuals and photographs to set the stage for a discussion of the experience of Muslim women on and off the stage.

Set in still war-torn Belfast, Young Plato carefully documents headmaster Kevin McArevey’s attempt to place philosophy at the centre of his school, both in terms of the curriculum and a more general approach to education, including conflict resolution.