17 Jun 2025

The European Union Delegations and its member States in collaboration with Alliance Française Gaborone will showcase Europeans films at the seventh edition of the European Film Festival opening at Riverwalk Capitol cinema today.

With contributions from EU member states Germany, France, Spain and Finland, the festival will open with Waves, a historical drama film directed by Jiri Madi from Czech Republic. 

The two hour film, released in 2024 is about the fight for freedom.

Also, three of Botswana’s short films will be showcased at this year’s film festival. 

Botswana’s Queen Mother, a three minute wildlife documentary by Kabo Gaokgakala released in 2024 exploring the Chobe River, Zola: My Beginnings a crime drama where love and crime collide. 

Zola: My Beginnings is set in the notorious Old Naledi township aka Zola and the 25 minute film released in 2016 was directed by Tshepo Makgasa. 

The third offering from Botswana is Fishing For a Dream directed by Teto Mokaila. This 16 minute short film documentary explores the life of a fisherman, and it was released in 2025.

During a press conference in Gaborone on Monday to announce the opening of the festival, EU Ambassador to Botswana and SADC Petra Pereyra said the film selection for this year’s festival offered opportunity to explore the diverse narratives and representations making up the European continent, in addition to Botswana short films which will also represent and portray stories from Botswana.

“We have also tried to select films from different genres, ranging from comedy to documentaries, thriller and animation and with different themes such as war, protection of the environment, LGBTQI+ representation and family films.”  

She also added that this year they had chosen to focus on diverse films making waves in different genres, from literary adaptations to comedy and drama which are topical and relevant to diverse audience.

Pereyra further said the European film festival provided a chance for European countries to unite through culture and that the festival was a testament that film transcends borders, languages and cultural differences. 

She said the festival underscored the importance of cross-cultural exchange and dialogue between European countries and the rest of the world, ‘in our case Botswana and SADC.’

Having been held in Botswana for seven years, this year Pereyra said they included a film for students learning French. 

The festival will have two screenings for schools for films; Calamity on June 19 and Red Soil on June 20th.

“We hope that people, through the European Film Festival, will discover new stories, appreciate different cultures, and perhaps even find a piece of their own story reflected in the films they watch.In these times, when the world can often feel divided, cinema can also remind us of our common humanity and shared dreams that unite us all,” Pereyra said. ENDS