DOCUMENTARY
BUDDHA IN AFRICA (2019)
HD Documentary: 93 min Feature/ 52 min Broadcast
Thinking Strings Media & Momento Film (South Africa/Sweden)
International Sales: CAT & Docs
Enock Alu, a Malawian teenager growing up in a Chinese Buddhist orphanage, feels torn between his African roots and Chinese upbringing. Once the star performer with dreams of becoming a martial arts hero like Jet Li, Enock, in his final year of school, has to make some tough decisions about his future. Will he return to his relatives in his home village or study abroad in Taiwan? Set against China's expanding influence on the continent, Buddha in Africa provides a unique insight into the forces of cultural soft power on the identity and imagination of an African boy and his school friends growing up between two cultures.
AWARDS
“Best South African Documentary” Durban International Film Festival, 2019
“Best International Documentary” Visioni dal Mondo International Documentary Festival, 2019
“Best Documentary” Knysna Film Festival, 2019
Winner - Chicago International Children’s Festival, 2019
NHK Japan Prize – International Contest for Educational Media, 2019
Audience Award Encounters, 2019
Best Documentary – Universal Martial Arts Festival 2020
Best Documentary Feature – SAFTAs 14th Annual Awards, 2020
Best Achievement in Directing a Documentary Feature – SAFTAs 14th Annual Awards
DocuDays UA “Rights Now” Special Mention, 2020
FESTIVALS
World Premiere - Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, 2019
Opening Night - Encounters South African Documentary Festival, 2019
Opening Night – Afrika Days Munich, 2019
Durban International Film Festival, 2019
Sydney International Film Festival, 2019
International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam, 2019
Verzio Film Festival, 2019
Visioni dal Mondo – Images from Reality, 2019
Vancouver International Film Festival, 2019
Cambridge African Film Festival, 2019
Unicef Innocenti Film Festival Florence, 2019
Chicago International Children’s Festival, 2019
JCC Carthage Film Festival, 2019
AFRIFF, Lagos, 2019
Hilton Arts Festival, 2019
Knysna Film Festival, 2019
Bristol Film Festival, 2019
Preambulo – Costa Rica, 2019
Afrika Filmfestival Belgium, 2019
Belize International Film Festival, 2019
Salt Spring Film Festival, 2019
Enfances dans le monde, France 2019
Bergren International Film Festival, Norway, 2019
Film from the South, Norway 2019
Afrika Eye Festival, UK, 2019
Jerusalem Anthropological Film, 2019
DocHouse London, 2020
Black Movie Festival Switzerland, 2020
Goteborg International Film Festival, Sweden, 2020
Docudays, UA, 2020
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, 2020
Tarifa African Film Festival, Spain, 2020
One World International Film Festival, Czech republic, 2020
DocPoint Talin, Estonia, 2020
DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film, 2020
Sydney South African Film Festival, 2020
China Documentary Film Festival, 2020
IceDocs – Iceland Documentary Film, 2020
Moscow International Film Festival, 2020
EIDF, South Korea
AFI Silver New African Film Festival
Tempo Documentary Festival, Sweden, 2020