The South African Film Festival arrives at Liverpool Powerhouse this March with a special program inside the Motherland African Festival, celebrating film, culture and storytelling.
The smell of grilled spices drifts across the courtyard, music pulses somewhere beyond the entrance, and a crowd gathers beneath the industrial beams of the old powerhouse. Western Sydney festivals often begin like this–food first, conversation second–but this weekend another current runs through the atmosphere: cinema.
For the first time, the South African Film Festival arrives as part of the vibrant Motherland African Festival, bringing a curated three-day film program to Liverpool Powerhouse from 27–29 March 2026.
Here, within a broader celebration of African music, food and art, film becomes another language of culture. Stories flicker across the screen while outside, drums and laughter echo through the precinct. The result feels less like a traditional film festival and more like a living cultural exchange – one where storytelling moves easily between stage, street and cinema.
The South African Film Festival Finds A Home In Western Sydney
For eight years the South African Film Festival has travelled across Australia and New Zealand, presenting contemporary South African cinema while supporting education programs through charity initiatives. Its main 2026 season opens nationally in June, but this March collaboration offers an early glimpse.
The partnership with Liverpool City Council’s Motherland African Festival brings the program into a distinctly local setting. Western Sydney’s African diaspora is one of the most vibrant in the country, and events like Motherland reflect the cultural connections that run between communities and continents.
That sense of place matters. Rather than screening films in isolation, the South African Film Festival unfolds amid markets selling handmade textiles, DJs spinning Afrobeat, and cooking stalls serving dishes from across the continent. Cinema becomes part of a wider conversation about identity, culture and memory.
Visitors might wander from a fashion stall into a screening room, then step back outside into music and conversation. It’s an atmosphere where film feels grounded in everyday life rather than tucked away inside dark theatres.
Short Stories Open The South African Film Festival Weekend
The weekend begins on Friday evening with a short film program that brings together emerging and established South African filmmakers.
Three films make up the program, each carrying a distinct voice and landscape.
Shap Shap, written and directed by Australian–South African filmmaker Kgomotso Sekhu, captures the restless energy of urban youth culture. Its title – a colloquial South African phrase meaning “quickly” or “all good” – hints at the speed and rhythm of city life.
In contrast, A Karoo Odyssey moves through the vast semi-desert landscapes of the Karoo, where open horizons and quiet roads shape the story’s pace. Featuring Theo Voss-Price, the film offers a more reflective tone, grounded in place and journey.
Completing the program is Are Your Eyes Nicely Open (‘tsamkwa / tga’), written and directed by SJ van Breda. The film draws from the cultural world of the Nharo Bushmen, weaving language, heritage and storytelling into a quiet meditation on seeing and understanding.
Presented together, the trio reflects one of the enduring strengths of the South African Film Festival: the ability to hold vastly different stories within a single cultural frame.
A Feature Film Highlight At The South African Film Festival
Saturday evening brings the program’s centrepiece – a screening of Barakat in the main theatre.
Written and produced by Ephraim Gordon and Amy Jephta, and directed by Jephta, the film has become something of a modern South African classic. The title comes from an Arabic word meaning “blessings,” and the story unfolds within the close-knit Muslim community of Cape Town.
When a widowed matriarch insists her family gather for Eid, long-buried tensions surface alongside humour, memory and affection. The film moves gently between generations, exploring how culture and faith shape everyday life.
What makes Barakat resonate internationally is its specificity. The kitchens, conversations and family rituals are unmistakably local, yet the emotional terrain – family obligations, reconciliation, the quiet weight of tradition – feels universal.
The South African Film Festival Turns Toward Wildlife And Hope
Sunday’s closing screening shifts the lens from family life to the natural world.
Diary of an Elephant Orphan, written, directed and produced by Hermien Roelvert-Van Gills, follows the remarkable journey of Khanyisa, a young elephant rescued after surviving a poacher’s snare.
The documentary traces her rehabilitation and the work of wildlife carers who guide her toward recovery and belonging. There are moments of vulnerability – the slow healing of injury, the tentative trust between animal and human – but also resilience.
Elephants are often symbols of memory and family structures in the wild. Watching Khanyisa find her place within a herd becomes a powerful metaphor for survival itself.
It is the kind of story that lingers after the lights come up, particularly within a festival devoted to the many forms of connection between people, land and culture.
A Festival Within A Festival
Outside the screening rooms, the broader Motherland African Festival continues in full colour.
Food stalls offer regional dishes and signature cocktails, while live music and DJ sets carry through the afternoon and evening. Artisan markets display handcrafted goods and contemporary African fashion. Performances weave dance and storytelling into the open spaces of the precinct.
One highlight includes a culinary experience curated by Bellbird Dining & Bar, paired with live performances including Australian-Mauritian singer Anieszka.
Together, the elements form a festival atmosphere that feels expansive rather than contained. The South African Film Festival simply becomes another thread within a larger tapestry.
Event Details
Event: South African Film Festival Film Program
Location: Liverpool Powerhouse
Dates: 27–29 March 2026
Program:
Friday 27 March – Short Film Program
Performance Space
Films: Shap Shap, A Karoo Odyssey, Are Your Eyes Nicely Open (‘tsamkwa / tga’)
Free Screening
Saturday 28 March – Feature Film
Main Theatre
Barakat
Ticketed
Sunday 29 March – Documentary
Performance Space
Diary of an Elephant Orphan
Free Screening
Official Link: https://saff.org.au