This year’s festival saw a range of topics explored through the festival’s panel discussions. Over and above the films curated for this year's program, we saw the need to expand our curation beyond the screen, through panel discussions with industry experts and emerging filmmakers, to engage with audiences on African diasporic cinema deeper and create a platform for meaningful dialogue and networking.
Our film festival closing day was a curated blend of music, an exhibition around Black Joy, 2 short film sessions and a panel discussion at 99 Juta in Braamfontein.
The second day of our festival at The Bioscope Independent Cinema kicked off with Session 3, 4 and 5 featuring African Diaspora gems and a highly informative panel discussion hosted by Eddie Ramohlale from SA Film Chronicles.
As we approached the 3rd year of our festival, we reflected upon the immense support and success we’ve had over the past 2 years. This year marks an important year in our film curation and the expansion of our festival to greater heights, new regions, new voices and cinematic narratives under a theme that truly encapsulated the ethos of our curatorial theme, “Beyond Borders”.
In the words of Melissa Kimble, "This world does not move without Black creativity.” Reel to Reality Festival is so proud to honour and celebrate the black child through our first, but not last Community Screening, in partnership with Vicky Denise Chili’s eKasi Bioscope.
The pop-up screening in Cape Town met our largest crowd yet this year, selling out all 100 tickets at The Labia Theatre for our first Cape Town visit and a warm crowd in attendance. The evening featured curated student films and emerging film voices.
We collaborated with The Forge, Braamfontein, as our hosts for the final day of the African diasporic Reel to Reality Festival this year because they aligned best with our ethos and aspiration for the event’s closing day.
We are proud to have had our second year run of our collaboration with The Bioscope Independent Cinema to showcase Reel to Reality Festival. On the 19th of February 2022, we screened an amazing selection of short films in a two session showcase, followed by a panel discussion with the amazing talent behind the films. Tickets for both sessions SOLD OUT for the second year in a row. We also were sponsored by Fox Cider, a dry apple cider, for complimentary drinks for our guests.
“The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of society."As part of the official opening night of Reel to Realty Festival this year, we thought it important to bring incredible creatives together through a unique social cinema experience and did so through a African diasporic dinner merging food and creativity under one roof. The evening consisted of an opening word from our founder, Mbali Mashaba, who thanked our sponsor, the Gauteng film commission and audience in attendance. We then proceeded to 2 poetry performances to open the night from 2 incredible poets, Grace Storm and Vincent Kheshwa.
Reel to Reality Festival is a NEW film festival run by Behind Her Lens Visuals that aims to spotlight films made by student, Indie, established and independent filmmakers and stories in the African diaspora at large, to showcase the past, present and future of storytelling. Reel to Reality merges the work made from the 'reel' and provides a 'real' cultural experience, to bring about a sustained effort in unique cinema-watching experiences of stories that may be missing from the mainstream and promotes a culture of cinema through storytelling related workshops and panel discussions in a time where cinema is constantly changing and evolving.