View All Posts By Author: Ian Merkel

Title: Numakage Public Pool Foreign Title: Same Year: 2025 Country: Japan Language: Japanese  Subtitles English Director: Shingo Ôta Trailer: This wonderful, but sad, documentary directed by Shinga Ota is not the first Japanese film I have seen of district redevelopments in Japan. However, it is unique in how this magnificent pool and site nicknamed “the ocean” in Tokyo’s Numakage neighborhood, affected the local community that it served. We encounter the

Title: Night Train Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: Zulu with English Subtitles Director: Kevin Harris Cast: Rudi Keyser(editor) Trailer: A documentary that brings to light the dark side of the “iron road” – the railway line built by President Paul Kruger from Johannesburg to Lorenzo Marques in 1894 – and the “night trains” that ferried some 5 million Mozambican migrant workers between 1901 & the 1960s to work the

Title: I Did Not Ask for This  Year: 2023 Country: South africa Language: Zulu with English Subtitles Director: Lunga Matholeni Cast and Crew: Tsakani Motshweni (Actor & Narrator Unathi Mahlati, Doreen Gaura, Prince Nare (Producers) Trailer: This film about Tsakani Motshweni is extremely hard to watch as he describes his difficult childhood and juvenile crime of shoplifting and gang violence, resulting in imprisonment more than once in juvenile prison. Younger

Title: Mbira Talks Year: 2025 Country: Zimbabwe, Canada Language: English and Shona with English Subtitles Director: Adrienne Amato Full Cast and Crew: Moyo Rainos Mutamba, Adrienne Amato (producer) | Ryan Noth (producer, Editor), Tess Girard (Cinematographor) Trailer More about the Film Mbira Talks follows the story of Moyo Rainos Mutamba’s migration from rural Zimbabwe to Toronto, Canada. Suspended between two worlds, he reconnects with his Indigeneity through playing Mbira, a sacred Zimbabwean musical instrument

Title: Illusion of Distance Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: Afrikaans with English Subtitles , English Director:  Sapho Wulana Awards: None Cast:  None Trailer: None The Illusion of Distance delves into the enduring effects of apartheid. Boeta Allie, an 80-year-old man who was classified as coloured by the Apartheid government was separated from his childhood friend Isaac Mbenyane who was classified as black. The two were inseparable as children while

Title: Legacy: Apartheid’s Shadow Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: English Director:  Tara Erica Moore Awards: Full Cast and Crew:  Trailer: Director’s Interview with Variety:   Apartheid may have fallen, but its shadow still lingers. A definitive documentary on one of history’s most brutal regimes, revealing how its dark legacy continues to shape the nation today. Thirty years after the fall of apartheid, South Africa remains the most unequal country

Title: The Voice of Others  (La voix des autres) Year: 2023 Country: France Language: Arabic, French with English Subtitles Director:  Fatima Kaci Awards: Cast:  Trailer: Rim is a Tunisian interpreter working in France on asylum procedures. Every day, she translates the stories of exiled men and women, whose voices raise questions about her own history. She has a daughter, but cannot locate her husband What I found so interesting in

Title: Wild Coast Warriors  Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: Xhosa, Zula, with English and English subtitles Directors: Nick Chevallier, Leigh Wood, Guido Zanghi  Awards: Trailer: Review1: Reviews 2 Synopsis For centuries, indigenous people have lived sustainably on South Africa’s Wild Coast. In this documentary about a court case against Shell, these communities succeeded in halting oil and gas exploration, winning ongoing protection for their ocean ,surrounding areas and their

Title: The Wait Year: 2023 Country: South Africa Language: Xhosa, Afrikaans with English subtitles Director: Imran Hamdulay Awards: Cast:  Siya Mayola, Cedwyn Joel, Ayden Croy  Crew:   Imran Hamdulay, Khosie Dali (Producers) David Leite, Karla Peetz, Brad Bickerton, Mandla Dube (Executive Producers) Jared Paisley (Cinematographer:) Trailer:   I have had my car broken into, more than once, while returning to Johannesburg.  It is a normal occurrence and always a long wait

Title: Old Righteous Blues Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: Afrikaans with English Subtitles Director: Muneera Sallies Awards: Full Cast and Crew:  Trailer: Old Righteous Blues is a wonderful drama about a bitter rivalry in the Cape Malay community that happened some 20 years ago and threatens to affect future generations if not resolved. Hantjie Jansen, an ambitious young musician hopes to become the major drum leader in the Old

Title: The Friendship Bench Year: 2024 Country: Zimbabwe Language:  English, Shona with English Subtitles Director: Reabetswe Moeti-Vogt Awards: AWARDS SAGE Encounters Refinery Best Edited Film Award | Encounters Film Festival (World Premiere) Best Documentary for South Africa | SOTAMBE Zambia International Film Festival (ZAMIFF) Full Cast and Crew:  Trailer: It is hard to believe that Zimbabwe only has about 10 psychiatrists. Luckily there was one by the name of Dr. Dixon Chibanda who

Title: Snake Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: Afrikaans with English subtitles Director: Meg Rickards Review & Awards: Cast:  Trailer: This thriller is based on a novel” Snake” by Tracey Farren. It is a good story with a remarkable performance by the lead role of nine-year-old Lamiyah Barnard as Stella. It has emotional depth, and the full power of storytelling to make its way to some International Film Festivals films

Title: Diary of an Elephant Orphan Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: English and afrikaans with English subtitles Director: Hermien Roelvert Awards: Trailer: Diary of an Elephant Orphan takes us through the struggles and turmoil’ of orphaned baby elephants and the people who have made it their life’s mission to save them. Khanyisa is the newest addition to the elephant sanctuary. It was filmed close to the Greater Kruger National

Title: Don’t Be late For My Funeral Year: 2023 Country: South Africa Language: English Director: Diana Keam Awards: Full Cast and Crew:  Trailer: Most South Africans had maids  labelled nannies in their households during the Apartheid era. Sometimes more than 1 depending on how many young children there were. Many of our mothers worked in our early years and our maids would be responsible for taking care of us, through

Title: Capturing Water Year: 2024 Country: South Africa Language: Afrikaans and English with English Sub Titles Directors: Rehad Desai, Anita Khanna Review by Modern Times (:Bianca-Olivia Nita ) Cast:  Trailer: This 80-minute documentary film influenced by the 2018 drought in South Africa’s Western Cape Region is an eye opener to the state of the water crisis in Cape Town, reputed to be the best managed city in South Africa. In

Title: Falls Around Her Year: 2018 Country: Canada Language: English Director and Writer: Darlene Naponse Awards Tantoo Cardinal: Cast:  Trailer: This film begins with a world famous First Nations Anishinaabe singer named Mary Birchbark getting ready to go on stage. Mary is played by a well-known musician and actress, Tantoo Cardinal also known for her roles in” Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Dances with Wolves”. She is a member

Movie Title: The Showerhead Year: 2024 Country: South Africa,  Language: In English  Director and Screenplay: Craig Tanner Producers: Craig Tanner, Anant Singh Awards: Not publicised at the time Cast: Jonathan Shapiro, Mondli Makhanya, Zwelinzima Vavi, Ronnie Kasrils, Ferial Haffejee,bMarcello Maffeis (Cinematographer)  Trailer: What an entertaining night we had at the opening screening of SAFF2025 at SFU Goldcorp Centre in Vancouver. The film superbly directed and scripted by Craig Tanner introduces

Our reviews of of some of SAFF2025 films