Just as films tell stories, a film festival aims to do the same. Through the 2016 edition of the European Film Festival in South Africa, we wish to contribute to the ongoing story of Europe. This story is one of a diverse continent in an interconnected world, which seems to be spinning faster and not always in the right direction.

News usually only capture fractions of reality and often distort it through hyperbolic language. With the aesthetic and visceral power of highly accomplished and acclaimed films made by filmmakers from 11 countries, we wish to add nuance, heart and soul to the story of Europe.

A novelty this year is the introduction of documentary films in the selection. The three selected documentaries are as creative, poetic and true as the eight fiction films in that each tells it story in a unique way and represents a personal gaze.

The European Film Festival is coordinated by the Goethe-Institut South Africa, hosted by Ster-Kinekor Cinema Nouveau, and organised in partnership with the European Union and 11 European cultural agencies or embassies in South Africa: the General Representation of the Government of Flanders, the French Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Camões Institute, the British Council, and the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.  

The European Film Festival is part of the EuropeFest, presenting in South Africa in May 2016 a diverse range of EU Member States cultural events.