The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

that takes place in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin. Presented by Centre for Creative Arts at the

University of Kwazulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University ...

, it is the oldest and largest film festival in Africa and presents over 200 screenings celebrating the best in South African,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n and international cinema. Most of the screenings are either African or South African premieres. The festival also offers filmmaker workshops, industry seminars, discussion forums, and outreach activities that include screenings in township areas where cinemas are non-existent, and much more, including Talent Campus Durban and a Durban FilmMart co-production market. Since 2005, DIFF serves as the South African launch for the Wavescape Surf Film Festival. Talent Campus Durban, in cooperation with the Berlinale Talent Campus, was a new initiative in 2008. and ran its fifth edition in 2012. Durban FilmMart, a co-production finance forum, launched in 2010. It is run in partnership with the

City of Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay o ...

's Durban Film Office.

Awards

The festival offers many competition sections and some of the prizes have cash attached. Since 2006,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

via the Durban Amnesty group, has also sponsored a cash prize called the Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award.

Festival editions

2023

The 44th edition of the festival was held from 20 to 30 July 2023. It showcased 90 films from 54 countries around the world. '' Sira'', a co-production between Burkina Faso, Senegal, France and Germany by Apolline Traoré, opened the festival on 20 July; whereas ''

Banel & Adama ''Banel & Adama'' () is a 2023 romantic drama film directed by Senegalese screenwriter Ramata-Toulaye Sy in her feature directorial debut. The film, a French-Malian-Senegalese co-production, premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 20 May ...

'', a French-Malian-Senegalese romantic drama by

Ramata-Toulaye Sy Ramata-Toulaye Sy (; born ) is a French-Senegalese film director and screenwriter. Early life and education Ramata-Toulaye Sy was born in Bezons, Paris to Senegalese parents. She studied at La Fémis in Paris, graduating in 2015. She lived i ...

, closed the festival on 30 July. '' Riceboy Sleeps'' a Canadian drama film by Anthony Shim won the best film award announced on 29 July.

2022

The 43rd edition of the festival was held from 22 July to 1 August 2022. ''1960'', a South African drama film by King Shaft and Michael Mutombo, opened the festival, whereas ''You’re My Favourite Place'' by Jahmil X.T. Qubeka closed the festival.

2024

The 45th edition of the festival was held from 18 July 2024 to 28 July 2024. The festival was organised under programmer Andrea Voges.

References

External links

Durban International Film Festival

2023 edition
at IMDb Festivals in Durban Film festivals in South Africa Film festivals established in 1979 {{Africa-film-festival-stub