(Un)told Stories

Nonetheless, Encounters have become part of the social calendar within the film industry. This is according to Anita Khanna, impact film producer and former jury member at Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) as well as One World Film Festival in Prague, which is one of the largest human rights film festivals in the world. She was also the director of the Tricontinental Film Festival (TCFF).

 

“It used to be the same for the TCFF, but then the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), which was our partner since 2003, basically withdrew funding. The TCFF folded,” she says.

 

Khanna believes that increased media attention on the industry and supportive public broadcaster would help to sustain and develop the industry. 

 

“Film festivals are important because filmmakers need as many platforms as possible. We don’t have a dedicated public broadcaster or enough exposure. We don’t have commercial cinemas that show documentaries, because they are too worried that showing documentaries won’t result in profit.”

 

“Film festivals tend to build a culture of watching and appreciating documentaries,” she explains. 

 

The Stellenbosch University Woordfees, which celebrated its 20th year in 2019, has been hosting its own film festival since its 5th year already.

 

“Our audiences really have a need for documentaries,” says Saartjie Botha, SU Woordfees director. 

 

“Its quite interesting actually,” she adds, “most aspects of the Woordfees festival environment are geared toward providing language-specific things because that is what our audience wants, but with documentaries it’s different. It’s not language-specific at all. As

long as it explores an interesting topic, festival-goers will go see it.”

 

Botha says that since the SU Woordfees has been showcasing more documentaries - 2019 screened ten different documentaries

and 2020 will screen nine - interest has also increased.

 

“People won’t know what they are interested in unless you expose them to new things,” Botha says.

 

The same can be said about media coverage of documentaries and film festivals. If the media does not inform the public,

people would not know of them.

 

Ralane also states the importance of social media for marketing Encounters to the public nowadays.

 

“Becuase we operate on a small budget, social media provides us with direct access to our audiences,” she explains.

 

“We can definitely be more innovative, though.”

 

Ralane also emphasises how important film festivals are to nurture young, emerging talent.

 

“This is something I’m very passionate about. The youth represents unique and diverse voices, which is much needed in the industry,” Ralane says about Encounters’ Student Shorts Program which provides a platform for young people to enter the industry. 

 

“It is an opportunity for young, diverse voices to access the festival space, promoting engagement with audiences, access to funders and other established filmmakers and industry players. Which is very important.”

 

Ralane also says that Encounters is fortunate for garnering significant media attention, which she accredited to the strong film program they compile each year. 

 

“We are proud that we are able to provide SA filmmakers with access and a platform to media outlets. They get their films reviewed and they get interviewed across online, print and broadcast platforms,” she states.

 

The problem is, however, that the media attention after Encounters then decreases significantly, and if impact film producers don’t go out and actively campaign the film, the film and the issue it addresses disappears form the public eye.

 

“Attention is restricted to the film festival space and time period, which is a shame,” ralane says.

 

Film festivals and significant media attention, however, will not necessarily be the end goal of every impact documentary, says Khanna.

 

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all when it comes to impact producing,” she explains.

 

“For some films, which want to achieve a certain impact goal, it needs to be screened to the targeted audience. A film festival could be the right audience, but other films target policymakers or lawmakers, and then they must be the audience.”

 

Another issue within the documentary film festival space is that there is a lack of supply of documentary films to screen.

 

Botha explains that the SU Woordfees has been showing more and more documentaries because they supply have increased recently.

 

“Our film festival coordinator, Danie Marais, selects the films based on quality and how visually interesting the documentaries are.”

 

“Woordfees would definitely continue to invest and support local documentaries,” she added. “Stellenbosch is a

university town and there is always a critical discussion going on making it a great place to show documentaries

because documentary films ask critical questions.”

 

Both Woordfees and Encounters have certain agendas with their respective film programs.

 

“At Woordfees we have a very specific agenda, which is firstly to promote the arts,” Botha explains.

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“Secondly, we aim to affect social cohesion and we have the responsibility to give audiences experiences

outside of their comfort zones. We must confront people with reality and worlds different from theirs.”

 

Botha continues: “It is our responsibility to expose our audience to documentaries, and if it plays into the agenda of social impact,

we are hopefully doing something right.”

 

Ralane reiterates Botha sentiments when it comes to Encounters.

 

“Our first and foremost agenda is to create a democratic space using film as a point of discussion and debate around critical issues,” she says.

 

“We also aim to give audiences the opportunity to be exposed to and engage with issues on a deeper level, providing a platform to have important conversations.”

 

Don Edkins, prominent South Africa documentary filmmaker and former jury member of the African International Film Festival, adds that South Africa has a long way to go in terms of developing and sustaining a film festival culture.

 

“In other countries, especially in North America and Europe, there is much more support for documentaries and film festivals,” he states. “Here it is much different. Financial support is lacking, policies are not there to support filmmakers and we need more platforms to reach audiences.”

 

Ralane agrees and says that when Encounters hosts 10 000 festival-goers it is a huge achievement, whereas other film festivals internationally can easily expect sometimes up to 200 000.

 

“We still have a long way to go in terms of audience development,” she adds.

 

“On the one hand, there is a growing interest in documentaries in South Africa because of new online platforms like Netflix and Showmax,” Ralane states. “I’m not sure if this means our festival audience will grow. We have a long way to go because of the socio-economic dynamics of our country because the documentary landscape remains far from transformed.”