8th Joburg Film Festival wants audiences to 'feel the frame'

The stories of South Africa cannot be told in a single, linear narrative.

They unfold from the margins, from lived realities shaped by those who experience them and who choose to frame them through their own lens.

These are the kinds of stories being celebrated at the Joburg Film Festival (JFF), which has returned for its eighth edition since its inception in 2016.

Filmmakers, actors, directors, costume designers and producers have used their skills and talents to showcase how they interpret the place they call home.

Founder Tim Mangwedi said platforms like JFF are essential for the country’s storytellers.

“We created this platform so that you, as young people, can tell your stories. Not the hunter telling the lion's story but you as a lion telling your own story,” Mangwedi said.

The festival officially opened on Tuesday and runs until 7 March, with members of the film fraternity celebrating the works that will be screened as well as gaining more knowledge and skills throughout the week.

Curation: Selecting stories that move audiences

After a rigorous selection process spanning more than two months, a panel of industry experts reviewed over 700 submissions from 98 countries. From these, 138 films were selected to reflect this year’s theme: Feel the Frame.

Curator Nhlanhla Ndaba said the aim is to move audiences beyond passive viewing.

“We don't want audiences to simply sit back and watch. We want them to experience cinema the way it’s meant to be experienced to feel all the emotions on screen,” Ndaba said.

“To feel the bass in the sound design. To feel the scorching heat of the sun in a prolonged desert scene.”

The opening film, Laundry Uhlanjululo, directed by Zamo Mkhwanazi, sets the tone for these layered narratives.

Mkhwanazi said she would like to see more stories centred on ordinary young people and family life.

“I would love to see more family stories. More stories about ordinary young people who aren’t defined by crime or addiction,” she said.

“I can only make films for the audience I know, and I believe that audience is interested in these kinds of stories.”

Challenging the audience’s lens

Ndaba believes South African filmmakers sometimes underestimate their viewers.

“We have a tendency to undermine our audience by creating the same types of narratives romantic comedies, over and over. I’m not saying those films aren’t important,” he said.

Rather, he argues that audiences are capable of engaging with more challenging material.

Creatives have long mirrored the societies they create within. Musicians such as Hugh Masekela and Busi Mhlongo used their art to confront the social realities of their time.

Similarly, JFF aims to present films that are thought-provoking and that encourage audiences to reconsider their perspective.

“Have a different gaze in terms of your enjoyment and your curatorship of film,” Ndaba said.

“We try to bring in films that challenge audiences.”

Mkhwanazi shares that belief in South African viewers.

“I have a great deal of faith in the taste of South Africans. South Africans have really great artistic taste. I encourage people to go to our theatres, you don’t know what you’re missing.”