FILM/PHOTOGRAPHY

M-NET MOVIES



As March in Hollywood is Oscar month, this month's M-Net film programme offers some of the best motion pictures on the circuit



Holly Hunter in a scene from "The Piano"

They include The Piano; The Madness of King George; The Color Purple; The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Wuthering Heights



The star line-up is also impressive: Johnny Depp Holly Hunter, Juliette Lewis, Mel Gibson, Jody Foster, Kurt Russel, Whoopi Goldburg, Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Amanda Donohoe, Gerard Depardieu, Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke, to name a few



Janet Suzman stars with Mark Frankel in Leon the Pig Farmer and the true sensation story of American figure skating rivals Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan is seen in Tonya & Nancy



Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson star in the visually-splendid 1975 film, Barry Lyndon and Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman prove they're good Western material in Wyatt Earp



The sadistic futuristic 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange, is directed by Stanley Kubrick and Keanu Reeves appears in the drama Speed

ARTS FOR LIFESKILLS

Arts for Lifeskills is a major theme of CHAF, the Community Health Awareness Festival, provisionally scheduled to take place in Durban during July 1996



The festival aims to highlight the role that the arts can play in improving the quality of life of the people in the greater Durban area



CHAF festival is expected to be linked to a month-long community television broadcast under the banner of GDTV (Greater Durban Television), the access station which held a successful experimental test broadcast in July last year

VHS



The GDTV station uses VHS videos and this allows people with domestic video cameras to make programmes for broadcast on the community channel



The festival also aims to interest people in local film making and to create awareness for the visual voice film museum project. Anyone interested in contributing videos to the community TV station or donating any type of equipment to the film museum project can write to: Cinematic City, BAT Resource Centre, 45 Maritime Walk, Small Craft Basin, Victoria Embankment, Durban, 4001

PHOTO WORKSHOPS

There are several workshops available to the amateur photographer: Barry Comber will hold a course from March 3 at his home in Waterfall. Cost of R500 (incl. film and developing). Phone 73-1525



Whysalls in Brickhill Road runs basic six-week courses. Cost R190 (excl. film and developing). Phone Janice or Judy on 37-1431



Paul Weinberg at the Durban Centre for Photography holds a 3-day workshop from March 1. Cost R100. Ph: 32-5317



LUNCH HOUR FILMS

The Durban Municipal Library gives regular free lunch-hour video screenings in the Museum Theatre (first floor City Hall). The programme for March is: Mar 5 (12h45): Soweto: A History (Parts 4-6) Mar 12 (12h45): Supersense, Part 2 - a voyage in animal perception



Mar 19 (13h05): Shingalana: The Little Hunter (Part 2) Mar 26 (13h05): The World at War - Part 1: A new Germany 1933-1939 For more information contact Deena Nair on 37-6246/7

AJAY HURBANS

One of the winners of the 1996 M-Net New Directions competition is local actor and writer, Ajay Hurbans. The 30 minute script will be directed for film by Jeremy Handler



Ajay Hurbans

The well-written and tightly-contained story opens with the Singh household as they prepare for Diwali but the comfortable peace is shattered with the violent death of the father. It continues to unfold with differences between Muslim and Hindu and contains a strong element of mystery and mysticism



Shooting starts on The Return on March 4 to be completed on March 15 and will premiere on M-Net shortly

PARK ART

The regular art exhibition held in the Durban Botanical Gardens will take place from 10h30 to 15h30 (March 3). Phone 701-4697. (If it's raining on the day, the event will be postponed to the following Sunday.)