Writing Art History Since 2002

First Title

To feature work by Marina Abromovic entitled “the artist is present”

A founding principle of Encounters was to foster local talent and the development of a documentary industry. In our line-up we have a number of SA features and shorts, including films by directors who were among the first to attend the Festival’s filmmaking laboratory a decade-and-a-half ago. A case in point is Riaan Hendricks whose film The Devil’s Lair proudly opens this 15th edition of the Festival. As a proudly South African organisation, diversity is at the heart of what we offer and this year is no different. With films from Congo, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel, Kosovo, Morocco, the Netherlands, Sweden, Tunisia, USA, Zimbabwe and South Africa, prepare to journey across the globe and come back to tell the tale.

Under the banner of Women Direct we include a special selection of films by female directors, all of whom will be guests of the Festival. In our focus we have partnered with the Documentary Filmmakers Association in response to the onslaught of high profile cases of violence in our country. Filmmakers Against Women Abuse (FAWA) is a call to action by industry and 10 short films will form part of the programme offering.

Marina Abramovic:
The Artist is Present
Nominated for best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival this intimate and moving film follows Marina Abramovic as she prepares for what may be the most important moment of her career: a major retrospective of her work and the biggest exhibition of performance art in MoMA’s history. Key to the exhibition is a live event that spanned 7 hours of every day for 3 months: The Artist sitting still, looking into the eyes of hundreds of her audience, one at a time, and witnessed by hundreds of thousands of others, without a break for anything. Abramovic is famed for her talent, for challenging definitions of performance and art, and examining the relationship between the performer and the audience, proximity and distance, body and mind. Her performances challenge, shock, and move some of us to tears. Not to be missed!

AWARDS:
Berlinale Film Festival 2012 – Panorama Audience Award
Sarajevo Film Festival 2012 – Audience award – Best Feature Documentary

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