![]() |
Buddha in Africa | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Directed by | Nicole Schafer |
Screenplay by | Nicole Schafer |
Based on | Buddhism in Africa |
Produced by | Nicole Schafer |
Starring | Enock Alu |
Cinematography | Nicole Schafer |
Edited by | Nicole Schafer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
Countries | South Africa Sweden |
Languages | English Chinese Mandarin |
Buddha in Africa is a 2019 South African Swedish documentary film produced, written and directed by Nicole Schafer. [1] [2] The film follows the story of Enock Alu, a Malawian orphan from a rural village growing up between the contrasting African culture and the strict discipline of the Confucian, Buddhist value of system of the Chinese. [3] [4] It explores the impact of the growing influence of Chinese culture in Malawi following increasing trade relations between China and Africa in the past decade. [5]
The principal photography of the film commenced in 2012 and had a delayed release in 2019. The film had its world premiere at Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival in April 2019. [6] It has since screened and won awards at numerous festivals around the world. [7]
Enock is six years old when he is taken to a Confucian Buddhist orphanage and given the Chinese name Alu. He becomes extremely skilled in acrobatics. Suddenly he must make a choice to reunite with the culture of Africa or to sign up for five years in order to study in Taiwan. [8]
After being pitched at the 2011 Durban International Film Festival, the film received the IDFA Most Promising Documentary Award. It then received international funding before being selected for the 2018 Cape Town International Film Festival Market Works-in-Progress laboratory. [9]
The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. [9] It then screened at several film festivals including Cambridge Film Festival, Encounters Festival South Africa and Sydney Film Festival. [10] [11] [12]
Having won best South African documentary award at the Durban International Film Festival, the film was automatically nominated for an Academy Award. [13]
Andrew Parker from the blog The Gate praised the cinematography of the film but criticised the screenplay for its weak content. [14]
Christian Frei is a Swiss filmmaker and film producer. He is mostly known for his films War Photographer (2001), The Giant Buddhas (2005) and Space Tourists (2009).
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June 2020. In addition to the annual festival, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, administers multiple production funds, and runs year-round screening programs including Doc Soup and Hot Docs Showcase.
François Verster is an independent South African film director and documentary maker.
Yung Chang is a Chinese Canadian film director and was part of the collective member directors of Canadian film production firm EyeSteelFilm.
Steven Markovitz is a South African film and television producer. He has produced, co-produced and executive-produced features, documentaries and short films. Steven has been producing and distributing for over 20 years. Since 2007, he has worked all over Africa producing documentary series' and fiction. He is a member of AMPAS, co-founder of Electric South & Encounters Documentary Festival and the founder of the African Screen Network.
Searching for Sugar Man is a 2012 documentary film about a South African cultural phenomenon, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, which details the efforts in the late 1990s of two Cape Town fans, Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, to find out whether the rumoured death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true and, if not, to discover what had become of him. Rodriguez's music, which had never achieved success in the United States, had become very popular in South Africa, although little was known about him in that country.
Amiel Courtin-Wilson is an Australian filmmaker. He has directed over 20 short films and several feature films. His debut feature film, Hail, premiered internationally at Venice Film Festival in 2011. He is also a musician, music producer, and visual artist.
Ryan Mullins is a Canadian film director, cinematographer and editor. He is part of the Montreal-based Canadian film production company, EyeSteelFilm. His directing credits include the documentary short Volta, and the feature documentary The Frog Princes. The film won a Golden Sheaf at the 2012 Yorkton Film Festival, and was also awarded the NFB Kathleen Shannon Award for a documentary film that "allows people outside the dominant culture to speak for themselves". At the 2015 Hot Docs film festival in Toronto, Mullins won the Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award for Chameleon.
A Sinner in Mecca is a 2015 documentary film from director Parvez Sharma. The film chronicles Sharma's Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia as an openly gay Muslim. The film premiered at the 2015 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to critical acclaim as well as negative controversies. The film opened in theaters in the US on September 4, 2015, and is a New York Times Critics' Pick.
Maya Newell is an Australian filmmaker, known for the feature-length documentaries Gayby Baby (2015) and In My Blood It Runs (2019). She works at Closer Productions in Adelaide, South Australia.
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah is a 2015 documentary-short film exploring the life and work of French director Claude Lanzmann. The film was written, directed, and produced by British filmmaker and journalist Adam Benzine.
The Apology is a 2016 documentary film by Tiffany Hsiung about three former “comfort women” who were among the 200,000 girls and young women kidnapped and forced into military sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The film is produced by Anita Lee for the National Film Board of Canada.
Mohammed Ali Naqvi is a Pakistani filmmaker based in New York City. He is known for documentaries which shed light on the socio political conditions of Pakistan, and feature strong characters on personal journeys of self-discovery. Notable films include Insha’Allah Democracy (2017), Among the Believers (2015), Shame (2007), and Terror’s Children (2003).
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. is a 2018 biographical documentary film about English rapper and artist M.I.A. Directed by Steve Loveridge, the film follows 22 years in the rapper's life, her rise to fame and her perspective on the controversies sparked over her music, public appearances and political activism.
Drag Kids is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Megan Wennberg and released in 2019. The film centres on Queen Lactatia, Laddy GaGa, Suzan Bee Anthony and Bracken Hanke, four young children from Canada, the United States and Europe who perform as drag entertainers, and performed together for the first time at Fierté Montréal in 2018.
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Tasha Hubbard and released in 2019. The film centres on the 2016 death of Colten Boushie, and depicts his family's struggle to attain justice after the controversial acquittal of Boushie's killer.Narrated by Hubbard, the film also includes a number of animated segments which contextualize the broader history of indigenous peoples of Canada.
Nicole Schafer is a South African writer, film director, producer, editor and cinematographer. In 2019, her film Buddha in Africa was considered for an Oscar nomination.
Perivi John Katjavivi, is a Namibian-British filmmaker. He has made several critically acclaimed films including Eembwiti, The Unseen and Film Festival Film. Apart from direction, he is also a producer, writer, camera operator, actor, cinematographer and editor.
Softie is a 2020 Kenyan film, based on the life of political activist and photojournalist Boniface Mwangi and his family. The film, directed by Sam Soko first premiered internationally at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival where it won a special jury prize for editing. Softie, which is set to premier in Kenya on October 16, 2020, also won the Best Documentary at the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) 2020. An award that has qualified the film for consideration for the Oscar documentary shortlist for the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony.
Finding Sally is a 2020 Canadian political autobiographical documentary television film directed by Ethiopian-Canadian director Tamara Mariam Dawit and produced by Isabelle Couture. The film received positive reviews from critics.