The European Film Festival in South Africa celebrates ten years

Learn more about this year’s ten-day programme of award-winning films 

In just one week, the European Film Festival in South Africa will celebrate its 10th edition. From 12 – 22 October, the festival will screen an inspired lineup of 16 new award-winning films in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with a special programme in Durban.   

A partnership project of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa, the participating European embassies and cultural agencies, the festival will feature films representing Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Ukraine,  in addition to an African-European co-production film, set in Sudan.

“We hope this festival will strengthen connections between Europe and South Africa, and its immediate neighbours, Eswatini and Lesotho. May this festival stimulate discussion and new ideas around our shared experiences, hopes and dreams, as together we face our ever-changing world,” says the European Union’s Ambassador to South Africa, Sandra Kramer.

Taking place under the theme Transition, this year’s programme will offer a cinematic reflection of the transition people go through during our turbulent and fast-moving times. As festival co-director and curator Peter Rorvik explains; “There can be numerous transitional moments in a lifetime; awakenings, re-awakenings, renewal of purpose, our self-understanding, of who we are, and our direction in life.  Transition is, in essence, a response to change, a process of managing change, or making a change.”

Following its time in South Africa, the festival will present events at the Alliance Française in Eswatini (20-22 October) and Lesotho (20 – 29 October).  These special programmes are organised in partnership with the Delegations of the European Union to the Kingdoms of Eswatini and Lesotho respectively, and the Alliance française in Maseru and Mbabane. Learn more about the festival here.

Screenings in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and online  

Screenings for the festival will take place at Ster-Kinekor’s The Zone in Johannesburg, and at The Labia in Cape Town. Each film will screen once. Thereafter, Ster-Kinekor Gateway in Durban will present a limited programme of films not available in the online streaming. Parallel to the in-person screenings, a selection of films will be available for free viewing online.  See the festival’s full schedule here.

France brings The Anatomy of a Fall to South Africa 

Supporting the festival, the Embassy of France in South Africa and the French Institute of South Africa are proud to bring The Anatomy of a Fall to local theatres, after its recent screening at the 2023 Cannes Festival. Directed by Justine Triet, The Anatomy of a Fall won the coveted Palm d’Or at Cannes. Described by Time Out magazine as “a thriller of real psychological, intellectual and emotional depth”, The Anatomy of a Fall uses equal parts of thorny, family, whodunit, and courtroom drama together to put marital power dynamics under the microscope.

Watch the trailer here 

An African-European co-production from Sudan 

Goodbye Julia is a six-country co-production film (Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, Sweden and Saudi-Arabia) and winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Freedom Award. Directed by Mohamed Kordofani, Goodbye Julia tells of the friendship between two women who represent the complicated relationship and differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities at a time of intense upheaval and transition. South African cinematographer for the film, Pierre de Villiers, will present workshops at the festival.

Watch the trailer here