Encounters 2021: We Rise For Our Land

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters Documentary Film Festival. Always a highlight in our calendar, the festival returns this year with limited physical screenings at The Bioscope from 11-20 June. Tickets are R70. For more information on the festival as a whole, please visit encounters.co.za

WE RISE FOR OUR LAND

Directed by: Kurt Orderson. (Mozambique | Swaziland | Zambia). Dur: 50 mins.

The criminalisation of social movements in Southern Africa has become a major area of concern, as land activists and smallholder farmers face increasing repression from national governments and corporate interests. Focusing on Mozambique, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Zambia, We Rise for Our Land seeks to address these issues and gain an understanding of why activists continue to be harassed by the state despite the existence of numerous legal frameworks that promise and promote basic human dignity. Given the history of colonialism and post-colonialism in the region, the fair and humane distribution of land and its impact on traditional agricultural systems remains a major flashpoint, one that has in many ways intensified under a model of globalised capitalism. The film talks to local activists about their struggles for autonomy and self-sustainability as well as the gendered nature of land ownership and the impact of industrial mining on agriculture and society.

COVID POLICY AND PROCEDURE.

The new Bioscope location is set to be a 47 seater cinema. We are however selling far less in order for there to be space to sit apart from other members of the public. We ask you to please keep your mask on the entire time within the cinema premises. Drinks and snacks will be on sale and can be consumed during the film, but please consider those around you when your mask is off for this. 44 Stanley is largely an open air shopping centre, and The Bioscope has a great outside space directly outside the cinema that public can make use of. Within the cinema, we will also make use of temperature reading, air filtering, and constant cleaning to make sure that The Bioscope remains a safe and hygienic experience.

After purchasing tickets, if you experience any COVID related symptoms, or come into contact with anyone who has tested positive, we ask you to please not attend the screening. Please understand that The Bioscope will not be able to refund you this ticket. We are happy however for you to give your ticket to someone else that can attend. If this is not possible, we would be happy to exchange your ticket for a future screening/event. This can all be coordinated via email at [email protected]