The Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF) will run a full natural world programme at the 17th Durban FilmMart. The industry event runs in Durban from October 9 to 12.
The NEWF programme includes three panels, an interactive exhibition and a selection of short films and works in progress. All of it focuses on stories about nature, conservation and culture.
“So many of the stories emerging from the continent remind us that nature is not separate from people,” said Pragna Parsotam-Kok, executive director of NEWF, according to IOL.
“Now more than ever, it matters that African voices are part of global conversations about our environment, nature and wildlife,” she said.
NEWF said it wants African storytellers to lead natural history filmmaking. It also wants communities that live alongside wildlife to tell their own conservation stories.
Parsotam-Kok said the programme also aims to draw in filmmakers who do not see themselves as wildlife or environmental storytellers. She said nature films can move between documentary, fiction and natural history.
The three sessions run under the banner Beyond the Wild. Each one looks at nature stories from a spiritual, technical or thematic angle.
The first panel looks at African spirituality and the links between nature, culture, ancestry and identity on commercial screens. It will also cover cultural authority, authenticity and the value of indigenous knowledge.
Speakers on that panel are Pippa Ehrlich of the Sea Change Project and Zolani Mahola. They will be joined by Dr Gcina Mhlophe of the Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust and Gogo Lindi Dlamini.
In the second session, NEWF Fellows will explain the creative and technical choices behind wildlife filming on land, underwater and from the air. They will use clips and scenes as case studies.
That session features Chisomo Kawaga, Nkosikhona Mthembu, Carlos Norhona and Elshadaye Temesgen. Nathan Rice of Untitled Entertainment will lead the talk.
The third panel looks at the wide range of nature stories across Africa. Fellows will talk about films on indigenous food, land restitution, human and elephant coexistence and environmental legacy.
Matamba Kombila of Dougantsi Films, Nondumiso Masache of Zenkosi Films and Anthony Ochieng Onyango of the TonyWild Foundation will speak. Thihangwi Ramutsindela of the Nga Maanda Awe Film Festival and NEWF will chair it.
Delegates can also visit The NEWF Room, an interactive exhibition about new and immersive ways of telling stories.
A 360-degree virtual reality trip will take visitors from the wildlife of Zululand to the coral reefs of Sodwana Bay. The room will also have Aquabots, a multiplayer conservation game.
A pop-up macro photo exhibition will show the small, hidden details of the natural world.
NEWF will also screen The Wild Side, a set of short films and works in progress. The films explore nature, culture and conservation through the eyes of African storytellers.
“For us, this is about more than putting nature on screen, and making space for the people who live in these environments, know them and carry their stories,” Parsotam-Kok said.
The Durban FilmMart programme, including all three NEWF panels, runs until October 12.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Entertainment. Image: IOL Entertainment. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.