Writing the Continent
African writers on African documentaries at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival.
With the 2025 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival recently concluded, Modern Times Review teams up with Durban FilmMart SA and Durban Talents to feature the perspectives of six Africa-based writers on African productions across the festival's programme.
Read all the work from Encounters below and stay tuned for writing from the Durban International Film Festival next week.
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Films
Ahmad Alive
Director: Ahmad Ghunaim
A harrowing personal account of a nation's resilience under constant fire.
Didy
Director: Gaël Kamilindi, François-Xavier Destors
A son’s journey to rediscover his mother unearths buried memories and reveals the silenced strength of Rwandan women.
Khartoum
Director: Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M. Ahmed, Phil Cox
A mirror to pain, resistance, and hope.
Mothers of Chibok
Director: Joel Kachi Benson
Nigerian mothers confront rape, loss, and systemic silence with dignity and defiance in an elegy for a wounded nation.
Where Zebus Speaks French
Director: Nantenaina Lova
A community compelled into powerful resistance to defend their culture and legacy against foreign forces seeking to erase their land, lives, and history.
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