The European Union (EU) remains a keen supporter of the Lesotho Film Festival organised by Sesotho Media and Development, having provided funding to the Festival over the years. This year the EU will also contribute films to be screened in the latest iteration of the festival, the Lesotho International Film Festival (LIFF 2021) that will take place from 23 November to 10 December 2021.

Three European films – Stories on Human Rights, Acasa My Home and The Pipe – will be screened free of charge at different venues during the festival, thanks to the cooperation of the European Film Festival in South Africa.

 “In the framework of the partnership between the European Union and the Lesotho International Film Festival, the EU provides support to the festival in its mission to promote local talent and in allowing people in Maseru to appreciate productions that would not otherwise be available to them”, says Head of the European Union Delegation to Lesotho, Ambassador Paola Amadei.

Stories on Human Rights, an ART for the World Production, will be the first to be screened on 25 November 2021 at the Alliance Française in Maseru (in the patio of the institute) at 19h20. A feature film comprising 22 short stories, Stories on Human Rights was made in observance of the 60^th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The film is presented in commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence. Ambassador Paola Amadei will introduce the film at the event.

The second film, Acasa, My Home, will be screened at Morija on 2 December 2021 at 16h40. An example of European cooperation, the film was produced in Germany, Romania and Finland. It has won numerous awards across the world including in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and USA.

Director Risteard O Domhnaill’s The Pipe completes the list. It will be screened at Café What? in Maseru on 6 December 2021 at 19h35. O’Domhnaill will attend the Lesotho Film Festival and participate in a Question and Answer session with the audience after the screening of his film. He will also give a filmmakers' master class to Basotho students.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for a renowned European film director to engage with Basotho who are interested in film and for him to pass knowledge to them”, Ambassador Paola Amadei adds.

Follow the festival

Facebook: @LesothoFilmFestival

                   @SesothoMedia

For more information, please contact:

• Senate Pitso, Sesotho Media and Development, socialmedia@sesothomedia.org, +266 2232 1446

• Mookho Makhetha, Delegation of the European Union in Lesotho, +266 2227 2230