The 7th Joburg Film Festival is set to take place from 11 to 16 March in Johannesburg, South Africa, with an impressive lineup of 100 films. This year’s festival will open with the documentary Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, a powerful exploration of the life and work of the renowned South African photographer. Running alongside the festival is the 3rd edition of the Joburg Xchange (JBX) film market, which will be held in Sandton under the theme The Golden Thread. The JBX platform will feature a selection of film and television-related panel discussions, aiming to foster industry collaboration and growth.
Nhlanhla Ndaba serves as the curator of the Joburg Film Festival, while Taryn Joffe, the festival manager, has emphasized the importance of the JBX film market in uplifting African filmmakers. According to Joffe, JBX 2025 is designed to provide opportunities for emerging and established filmmakers by facilitating targeted discussions, business networking, and youth training initiatives. This initiative aims to bridge gaps in the African film industry and create avenues for both artistic and commercial development.
A key highlight of this year’s festival is the premiere of 28 African films spanning fiction and non-fiction, alongside 12 world premieres, including two South African productions. One of the highly anticipated films is Bos, a post-apocalyptic thriller set in a future South Africa where a devastated society forces survivors to navigate complex moral dilemmas in their fight for survival. The lineup also includes The Man Died, an autobiographical adaptation of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s prison memoir, offering a gripping account of his imprisonment under a brutal military regime that sought to silence him.
Another standout film premiering at the festival is Happy – The True Story of Happy Sindane, which delves into the real-life journey of a teenage white boy raised by a Black family who embarks on a search for his biological white parents. With a diverse and thought-provoking selection of films, the 7th Joburg Film Festival promises to be a celebration of African and global storytelling, offering audiences an opportunity to engage with compelling narratives and cinematic excellence.