Salt Lake City Film Festival
November 3-6, 2005Friday, November 4
Screenings at SLC Library Auditorium
5:30 pm
I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE
7:30 pm
THE SWENKAS
Director: Michael Franti
Documentary. 2005. USA. 95 min. English.
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SLC Premiere
This film chronicles a musician's journey through war in the Middle East. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a video camera, musician Michael Franti of the band Spearhead takes us on a musical journey through the U.S. led war and occupation in Iraq as well as the potent and continual conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. Along the way he shares his music with families, doctors, musicians, soldiers and everyday people who in turn reveal to him the often overlooked human cost of war. Told in their own words, this film provides a rare glimpse into the lives of those who are affected by war the most. Michael's storytelling and songs masterfully weave the film into a visual and musical tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.
Friday, November 4th, 5:30 pm
Director: Jeppe Rønde
Documentary. 2004. Denmark. 72 min. Zulu, English subtitles.
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Utah Premiere
Robert Festival 2005 Best Documentary
In post-Apartheid South Africa a small group of working Zulu men every Saturday night leave their grimy overalls behind and wear their best Carducci or Pierre Cardin suits to impress the weekly selected judge. The men are called the Swenkas, and they have run this fashion show for so many years that no one knows exactly when-or even why-it all began. The youngest Swenka, Sabelo, is in the most turbulent time of his life. He has to bury his father just a week before Christmas and only a week before his own wedding. But Sabelo's father was also "father" of the Swenkas, and now Sabelo and his fellow Swenkas find themselves in a state of uncertainty. The Swenkas are the film's direct entry to the darkest downtown of contemporary Johannesburg, one of the most violent cities on earth. But the Swenkas are about to tell a totally different story from within that very place-a story of hope.
Friday, November 4th, 7:30 pm