Key Sentence:
- The film “The Last Shelter” recently won the award for best South African/African.
This month, feature film at the South African International Documentary Festival, “Meetings,” will be screened in the Durban International Film Festival following this month. Generation Africa is a documentary project looking for exciting stories to tell the story of a new migration – from the perspective of young Africans.
This is the second award for Powerhouse Steps, the maker of the Cape Town documentary. The first was Zinder, who won the Adiaha Award for best documentary by an African woman. The Final Refuge, directed by Malian director Ousmane Samaseku, takes a trip to the famous Migrant House in the Malian city of Goa on the edge of the stunning Sahel desert.
The jury recognized the film for its unrestricted access to migrant homes in the Malian city of Gao, a haven for African travelers. Usman Samaseku’s excellent approach to the two young characters, the intimacy of watching movies against the backdrop of a vast and gloomy desert landscape make him a favorite on the programming team.
“The Last Shelter” achieves the goal of the documentary; to provide a lens on world issues through the experiences of its people,” the jury quoted. Samaseku said the award was significant. “I got to know migrant homes through a workshop in Burkina Faso organized by Steps and decided to give it the subject of my film.
“Secondly, this is the first award this film has received in Africa, and I’m thrilled that it happened in South Africa,” said Samaseku. South African public will have the opportunity to watch the film online at the Durban International Film Festival from 22 July till 1 August, when the Durban International Film Festival takes place online.
Don Edkins, the producer of Steps and Generation Africa, said: “It is a great honor for me to have two films recognized by Encounters for their excellence in telling these truly compelling and essential stories from Mali and Niger.
