South Africa

Arts and Culture

Civil Society rescues Encounters International Documentary Festival

Civil Society rescues Encounters International Documentary Festival

Encounters, the South African International Documentary Festival, faced a financing deficit that would have discontinued it as an “essential fixture” in the South African film landscape. However, civil society came to the rescue of this important cultural event.

For two decades, Encounters festival has been arguably the continent’s premier showcase for non-fiction film, and this year it almost did not happen because it had lost support from its main funder, the National Film and Video Foundation.

On the eve of the event’s opening night, on its 20th anniversary, organisers were informed in a letter that the event faced closure after the NFVF declined its usual request for funding.

According to a statement released on Tuesday this week, Encounters received a rescue package from civil society within two weeks of the festival’s opening which resulted in a dramatic turnaround as supporters stepped forward to help bridge the big financial funding gap.

Bertha Foundation, an organisation which supports activists, storytellers and lawyers who create artwork and fight for social, economic and human rights, became this year’s largest donor. Open Society Foundation and Spier were also among the biggest supporters.

Encounters needed to raise R700,000 to compensate for the lost NFVF funds. However, through the festival’s crowdfunding campaign, R128,359.00 was raised towards the rescue fund.

The Encounters festival is a cultural event that showcases the work of filmmakers and organises the industry’s programmes, masterclasses, and workshops for filmmakers hoping to expand their skill set and to network in the industry.

Although the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is not the sole funder, it is the certainly the largest. For 10 years the fund has been a major source of steady support.

If it had not been for the support the festival received through crowdfunding campaign, the event might not have happened.

While Encounters has made it through this year’s festival and there is reason to celebrate the show of support, the organisation has no secure funding in place for future editions. This year was a crisis, and Encounters is grateful that people showed their love,” festival organisers said in the statement.

The statement said that Encounters’ belief in the power of documentary film to transform, create empathy and to contribute to mutual understanding and dialogue between cultures allows the festival to be a vital platform where both established and emerging filmmakers and audiences intersect with documentary cinema from South Africa and abroad.

The success of the fundraising campaign is proof that South Africans and many others don’t want to lose it. The reality is that Encounters might not happen next year unless the crisis fund becomes something more secure.” DM

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options