Check out these films being shown at the Durban International Film Festival No images? Click here Hi there Welcome back to the Wednesday edition of the Top of the Vox. Today I have put together something different for you. The Durban International Film Festival kicked off this past weekend and what's great about the festival is that all of the films and documentaries are free to watch online. I chatted with the producer and director of two of the films being shown at the festival. The interviews are down below. Check those out and make to sure to watch the films as well. And don't forget if you have a story tip or you'd like to submit a piece to us: GET IN TOUCH Top of the VoxWisaal Abrahams, producer of The Art of Fallism says the Norwegian producer and director followed the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall movement in in Norway and were affected by the progressive nature of the debates. Realising that their own struggles for intersectionality and respect for diversity were still growing, they wanted to capture the story and use it as a spark to ignite pro-action back home. Wandile, one of the fallists is the center of the story. Abrahams said Wandile's wise and capable lens on the world and the issues covered in the film, allows the viewer to travel alongside the violence and exclusion of society and into the world of art, where expression and the execution of that is determined by the individual's courage to be alive. "This process was a gruelling test of my own values and stamina for the changes I want to see not only in the world, but within the microcosm of the international film industry. My greatest joy from this film is the fact that we as colleagues came out of this process as friends and allies after many battles and finding our feet within this transformative process." Abrahams said: "Movements are made up of individuals and as individuals we all suffer from the oppressive nature of what we have inherited; the enslaved burdens carried by our families for centuries, plagues of addiction, greed, fear and anxiety about our purpose. When we stand together to fight for a single cause – there needs to be a conscious decision within every soul to contain our individual demons so as to not put the collective in a vulnerable position or at risk, and this is not in defense of the common enemy, but of our own destruction." In the short film EsCape Town, director Colin Macrae tells the story of Edgar Combrink, a perpetual re-offender, released back to the Cape Flats to a family he hardly knows and an increasingly dangerous community. Macrae says working on the film was challenging because it dealt with challenging subject matter. It took a while for Macrae to get permission to film at Pollsmoor Prison as well as to gain Combrink's trust before even starting the filming. He also had a short amount of time to shoot and complete the film. "It was daunting but when you make films, you have to finish them otherwise you're not a filmmaker. You're just playing." Macrae says the inspiration for the short came about while he was living in the UK. He wanted to portray South Africa in a positive light and came across a story of a restaurant ran by Pollsmoor Prison inmates. He met Combrink who had been offered a job by a customer from the restaurant. Macrae saw this as an opportunity for a positive story. Despite the job offer falling through, Macrae decided to tell the story of Combrink's release and how he was re-integrating with his family. Macrae wants people who watch the film to see the other complicated and complex side of Cape Town - far removed from the affluent suburbs and popular tourist spots. "I'd like people to politically engage with it and understand the complexities of the world we live in." PODCAST ALERT!The full season of The Critical Stans is available to listen, stream and download on iono.fm, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We are also going to be uploading the entire 2018 season of The Critical Stans. Make sure to check it out! NEWS FROM CAMPUSES:Kristal Duncan-Williams, Clotilde Angelucci, Vuyelwa Tshoto, and Zandile Moloi write that there needs to be ways to save the academic year AND support students’ mental health. READ HERE Universities are slowly welcoming students back to residences and academic spaces. READ MORE HERE If you have any urgent questions related to NSFAS or to universities, we’ve answered them here. Here's what you need to know about NSFAS 2021 No Late Applications To Be Accepted Everything You Need To Know About NSFAS 2020 However, if you have a question that we have not answered, let us know and we will try to find you an answer. Email fatima@thedailyvox.co.za. This week, what stuck out for me during my readings was this interview of Haruki Murakami where he chats with fellow Japanese author, Mieko Kawakami. Kawakami grills Murakami on his representation of women in his books - and it's fantastic. Check out the interview here.
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