What’s better than a documentary film festival that is screening some award winners from around the world for free?

Watching those award winners from the couch at home, because they’re all being shown online.

This year, the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival is back, but with a few necessary changes.

In addition to screening all of the doccies online, tickets will also be free, although those who are able to are encouraged to donate R50 (roughly the cost of a normal ticket).

One of the most highly-anticipated screenings will be Banksy Most Wanted, which promises to shed some new light on one of the world’s most mysterious men.

Here’s the synopsis:

This latest film about the graffiti artist who has become a global household name without ever revealing his identity, begins with the now-notorious Sotheby’s auction in which Banksy’s most iconic work, Girl with a Balloon, was instantly shredded by a mechanism in its frame just seconds after the auction hammer fell.

From that art-historic moment, the film returns to the beginning of the Banksy narrative which has engaged the world and made him perhaps the most widely recognized name in art history.

Providing an account of the artist’s rise to fame, while documenting the various forensic investigations that have attempted to solve the mystery of Banksy’s true identity, the film is at its most engaging when interviewing ordinary people about what his anarchic work means to them.

Directed by Aurélia Rouvier and Seamus Haley, the doccie was officially selected for the Tribeca Film Festival’s Spotlight Documentary section, and the Encounters Festival will screen it this Friday, August 21, at 9AM, and the following Friday, August 28, also at 9AM.

Book your ticket here, after watching the trailer:

Looks well worth a watch.

The Encounters festival runs from tomorrow (August 20) through to August 30, and will also feature a doccie that should be of particular interest to South Africans:

Before watching, remove all potential items that could be hurled at the TV or laptop screen for safety reasons.

You can book tickets for that screening here.

All in all, the festival will screen 78 local and international titles over the 1-day period, and you can find the full list, as well as book tickets,  here.

[source:encounters]