Encounters Festival
28th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
Africa's premier documentary event
#BackTogether from 4 - 14 June 2026πCT | JHB

π ENCOUNTERS TALKS | FULL PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
π¬ The wait is over! The full line-up for the 28th Edition of Encounters Talks is officially here. From masterclasses with international industry giants to deep dive panel discussions on the philosophy of the edit, we are bringing an incredible lineup of sessions to Cape Town, Joburg, and Online.
Block out your calendars and check out the full schedule below:
π CAPE TOWN
Friday, 5 June
11:00 - 12:30 | Women as Workers and Warriors
13:30 - 15:00 | Filmmaking as Reparative Practice
Saturday, 6 June
11:30 - 13:00 | Reclaiming Culture as a Restorative Pathway
13:45 - 15:15 | The Role of the Storyteller and Museum in Repatriation and Spiritual Justice
20:00 - 00:00 | Encounters Opening Party π
Monday, 8 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Sam Pollard & Paul Trewartha (TUTU)
13:00 - 14:00 | TUTU Legacy Panel
Thursday, 11 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Miguel Eek
π JOHANNESBURG
Saturday, 6 June
10:00 - 12:00 | Beginnings and Openings
13:30 - 15:00 | The Editing Process as Reparative Practice
20:00 - 00:00 | Encounters Opening Party π
Wednesday, 10 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Sam Pollard & Paul Trewartha (TUTU)
13:00 - 14:00 | TUTU Legacy Panel
Saturday, 13 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Miguel Eek
π ONLINE
Friday, 12 June
10:00 - 13:00 | Masterclass with Mark Lewis
ποΈ TICKET & RSVP DETAILS:
πΈ Cape Town InReach: RSVP (Free)
πΉ Joburg InReach: RSVP (Free)
π³ General Public: R100 per ticket
Spaces are limited for our physical venues, so make sure to secure your seats early. Whether you're an editor, director, producer, or documentary lover, we can't wait to see you there! π¬
#Encounters2026 #EncountersDoc #DocumentaryFestival #FilmMasterclass #PostProduction #SouthAfricanFilm #CapeTownEvents #JoburgEvents
ποΈ Tickets + Programme:
linktr.ee/encountersdoc
https://encounters.co.za/

π ENCOUNTERS TALKS | FULL PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
π¬ The wait is over! The full line-up for the 28th Edition of Encounters Talks is officially here. From masterclasses with international industry giants to deep dive panel discussions on the philosophy of the edit, we are bringing an incredible lineup of sessions to Cape Town, Joburg, and Online.
Block out your calendars and check out the full schedule below:
π CAPE TOWN
Friday, 5 June
11:00 - 12:30 | Women as Workers and Warriors
13:30 - 15:00 | Filmmaking as Reparative Practice
Saturday, 6 June
11:30 - 13:00 | Reclaiming Culture as a Restorative Pathway
13:45 - 15:15 | The Role of the Storyteller and Museum in Repatriation and Spiritual Justice
20:00 - 00:00 | Encounters Opening Party π
Monday, 8 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Sam Pollard & Paul Trewartha (TUTU)
13:00 - 14:00 | TUTU Legacy Panel
Thursday, 11 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Miguel Eek
π JOHANNESBURG
Saturday, 6 June
10:00 - 12:00 | Beginnings and Openings
13:30 - 15:00 | The Editing Process as Reparative Practice
20:00 - 00:00 | Encounters Opening Party π
Wednesday, 10 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Sam Pollard & Paul Trewartha (TUTU)
13:00 - 14:00 | TUTU Legacy Panel
Saturday, 13 June
10:30 - 12:00 | Masterclass with Miguel Eek
π ONLINE
Friday, 12 June
10:00 - 13:00 | Masterclass with Mark Lewis
ποΈ TICKET & RSVP DETAILS:
πΈ Cape Town InReach: RSVP (Free)
πΉ Joburg InReach: RSVP (Free)
π³ General Public: R100 per ticket
Spaces are limited for our physical venues, so make sure to secure your seats early. Whether you're an editor, director, producer, or documentary lover, we can't wait to see you there! π¬
#Encounters2026 #EncountersDoc #DocumentaryFestival #FilmMasterclass #PostProduction #SouthAfricanFilm #CapeTownEvents #JoburgEvents
ποΈ Tickets + Programme:
linktr.ee/encountersdoc
https://encounters.co.za/
58 documentaries. 33 countries.One shared truth: Love, in all its forms, endures
For 28 years, Encounters has celebrated documentary in Africa through stories that move us, challenge us, and bring us closer to one another.
This year, we hold each other.
With open hands and courageous hearts, we gather around stories rooted in memory, loss, resistance, joy, and the radical act of beginning again.
#Encounters2026 | 4β14 June
Cape Town β’ Johannesburg β’ Pretoria
Tickets on sale now: Link in Bio π
Design by @toby_2shoes
Edited by @ash_da_silva
Animation by @shukry_adams
TICKETS NOW ON SALE ποΈ
For 28 years, Encounters has brought audiences together through stories that challenge, move, and connect us.
This yearβs programme is a reminder that even in difficult times, documentary has the power to inspire resistance, deepen understanding, and imagine new possibilities for the future.
From powerful investigations to intimate human stories,
#EncountersDoc invites you to look closer, listen deeper, and love harder.
π 4β14 June 2026
Cape Town β’ Johannesburg β’ Pretoria
π¬ LINK IN BIO | Full programme + tickets available now: https://linktr.ee/encountersdoc
V&A Waterfront Ster-Kinekor in Cape Town
Labia Theatre
Bertha House Mowbray
Bertha Movie House in Khayelitsha
Ster-Kinekor Sandton
Rosebank Nouveau
Ster-Kinekor Southgate
The Bioscope
Brooklyn Commercial in Pretoria
π¬ Tristan Forever
For over 30 years, a Parisian doctor returned to Tristan da Cunha β the most isolated inhabited island in the world. Now, heβs ready to leave everything behind and make it home.
A tender and beautifully observed documentary about belonging, friendship, and the search for a different way of living.
Screenings:
π JHB Brooklyn Commercial 5 β Fri, 5 June | 6PM
π CT Labia Screen 1 β Mon, 8 June | 6:30PM
π JHB Bioscope β Sun, 14 June | 2PM
Courtesy of SWISS Films
#Encounters2026 #EncountersDoc
π¬ MEET THE FILMMAKER | Patience Nitumwesiga
Director of The Woman Who Poked The Leopard. A powerful documentary following Ugandan poet and activist Stella Nyanziβs fearless resistance against oppression.
βYou can handcuff the body but not the spirit.β
π€ APPEARANCES:
π Beginnings and Openings
Sat, 6 June | 10AM
@goetheinstitut_southafrica , JHB
π Cleaning the Cut
Sat, 6 June | 1PM
@goetheinstitut_southafrica , JHB
#Encounters2026 #MeetTheFilmmaker #EncountersDoc
π¬ KIKUYU LAND | African Premiere
Whose story gets told when the land remembers everything?
Set on Kenyaβs tea plantations, Kikuyu Land follows one manβs fight for restitution after colonial land theft reshaped generations of his family history.
A powerful reflection on memory, justice, and the enduring legacy of colonialism.
π SCREENING DETAILS
CT: Ster-Kinekor V&A β Tue 09 June, 6:30PM + Q&A
CT: Labia β Sun 14 June, 6:30PM
JHB: Bioscope β Wed 10 June, 6PM
JHB: Rosebank Nouveau 6 β Sat 06 June, 8:30PM
#Encounters2026 #EncountersDoc #KikuyuLand #DocumentaryFilm

π€ INDUSTRY EVENT | Beginnings and Openings
What makes the opening minutes of a documentary unforgettable?
Join film directors, editors, and creative producers for a conversation exploring how documentaries build trust, tension, mood, and emotional connection from the very first frame.
Because in documentary filmmaking, the opening is everything.
π Goethe-Institut, JHB
π
Sat, 6 June
β° 10AMβ12PM
ποΈ R100 & limited Inreach tickets are FREE, link in bio
#Encounters2026 #EncountersDoc #IndustryEvents
π¬ MEET THE FILMMAKER: Kagho Idhebor
Director of My Jebba Story, a striking black-and-white cinematic portrait of Lagosβ Jebba Street, where memory, archival photography, and personal history collide.
Through images and recollection, Kagho revisits the neighbourhood that first sparked his love for street photography, capturing a community shaped by survival, creativity, and the power of seeing.
π SCREENING DETAILS
CT: Labia 1 β Sun 14 June, 2:30PM + Q&A
JHB: Rosebank Nouveau 6 β Tue 09 June, 6PM
#MeetTheFilmmaker #MyJebbaStory #AfricanCinema #DocumentaryFilm
π¬ A Little Blackman from the Congo
A pilgrimage the world refuses to see.
South African filmmaker Tshililo waha Muzila walks the Camino de Santiago in an orange life jacket, confronting Europeβs migrant crisis while reflecting on colonialism, displacement, and Black identity across continents.
π¬ Screenings:
π JHB Bioscope β Fri, 5 June | 6PM + Q&A
π CT Ster-Kinekor V&A 13 β Wed, 10 June | 6:30PM
#Encounters2026 #EncountersDoc

@encountersdoc 2026 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival comes to a cinema near you on 4 - 14 June π₯π¬
β€οΈ Follow
@map_my_way
@encountersdoc
@thebioscope
@sterkinekor
@thelabia
WHAT | WHERE | WHEN
WHAT: 2026 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
WHERE : Cape Town: Labia Ster-Kinekor Bertha Khayelitsha Bertha Mowbray
Jhb: Bioscope Rosebank Nouveau Ster-Kinekor Brooklyn Commercial 13 Ster-Kinekor Sandton 1 Ster-Kinekor Southgate1 WHEN: 4 β 14 June 2026

@encountersdoc 2026 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival comes to a cinema near you on 4 - 14 June π₯π¬
β€οΈ Follow
@map_my_way
@encountersdoc
@thebioscope
@sterkinekor
@thelabia
WHAT | WHERE | WHEN
WHAT: 2026 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
WHERE : Cape Town: Labia Ster-Kinekor Bertha Khayelitsha Bertha Mowbray
Jhb: Bioscope Rosebank Nouveau Ster-Kinekor Brooklyn Commercial 13 Ster-Kinekor Sandton 1 Ster-Kinekor Southgate1 WHEN: 4 β 14 June 2026

@encountersdoc 2026 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival comes to a cinema near you on 4 - 14 June π₯π¬
β€οΈ Follow
@map_my_way
@encountersdoc
@thebioscope
@sterkinekor
@thelabia
WHAT | WHERE | WHEN
WHAT: 2026 Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
WHERE : Cape Town: Labia Ster-Kinekor Bertha Khayelitsha Bertha Mowbray
Jhb: Bioscope Rosebank Nouveau Ster-Kinekor Brooklyn Commercial 13 Ster-Kinekor Sandton 1 Ster-Kinekor Southgate1 WHEN: 4 β 14 June 2026
π¬ Elephants & Squirrels follows artist Deneth Piumakshi Veda Arachchige as she uncovers ancestral remains and artefacts from the Wanniyala-Aetto community in a Swiss museum β retracing a colonial journey of extraction, memory, and resistance.
π CT Screenings
Labia 1 β Sun 07 June | 4PM + Q&A
Labia 1 β Sat 13 June | 8:30PM
π JHB Screenings
Bioscope β Tue 09 June | 5:30PM
Rosebank Nouveau 6 β Sat 13 June | 4PM
#EncountersDoc #ElephantsAndSquirrels
π¬ Meet the Brazilian filmmaker Lara Carmo
Oops, I died:an immersive look at childhood, online gaming, movement, exhaustion, and the blurred space between digital and physical worlds.
Through her work, Lara explores the relationship between fiction and reality, inviting us to rethink how we experience the world around us.
π¬ Screenings:
π CT Ster-Kinekor V&Aβ Tue, 9 June | 8:30PM
π JHB Bioscope β Sun, 14 June | 11AM + Q&A
#EncountersDoc #MeetTheFilmmaker
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