Encounters 2007 - Festival International du Documentaire Sud Africain

Welcome to the 9th edition of the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival!

We take pleasure in presenting a programme of 50 films - provocative, stimulating and engaging - from South Africa and the rest of world.

Our partnership with SABC and INPUT continues to grow. With the SABC we are promoting the theme of Heritage, and have designed a number of Panel Discussions, Master Classes, Debates, Presentations and Workshops, which we know will be very stimulating.

These have increased in number, as a direct response to requests from both filmmakers and the public. They are: the New Media Panel; 5 Master Classes with international filmmakers; the Cultural In/Sensitivity Debate; the SABC, INPUT and NFVF Presentations - all of which are open to the public; and two closed events - the Africa Shorts Project and the Producers Workshop.

Our second Africa Focus showcases five films on Africa, by African filmmakers. The Festival has added the Jameson Environment Focus, with four films that are the best that we saw on the pressing issue of the health of the planet.

As usual we have the Jameson Audience Awards - but with the added bonus this year of R20,000 for the director of the Best South African Documentary.

We welcome the 16 South African filmmakers whose work we present this year, the five African Shorts participants, the Producers Workshop tutors, and the many international guests - among them directors, writers, producers and film festival organisers. We extend a special welcome to representatives of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and Docusur Festival in Spain, and the Brazilian TV Producer's Association delegation, here for the first time, in order to build a strong relationship between our industries.

We thank all those who sponsor the Festival and give grants, and the filmmakers for their films. You will hear and see more of them all at the Festival.

We have a special discount offer for those who wish to see many films - Festival
Cards are available at the cinema Box Offices, see below for the details.

We look forward to seeing you often!

Mandisa Zitha
Festival Director