<p>The popular annual Encounters festival is known for its broad selection of some of the best short and feature length contemporary documentary films from around the world, with dozens of great films on its annual programme. The film festival takes place at <strong>The Bioscope independent cinema</strong> in Maboneng and<strong> </strong>at <strong>Cinema Nouveau</strong> in Rosebank Mall.<br /> <strong>The full programme <a href="http://www.encounters.co.za">can be viewed online</a>. Highlights of the 2017 programme include:</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Mogadishu Soldier</strong> Two African Union soldiers were given a camera and asked to film anything ‘important’. One year later the uncensored and unsettling footage tells the hidden story of the banality and tedium of peacekeeping during deadly conflicts such as the battle with Al-Shabab in Somalia. <em>Cinema Nouveau, Sat June 3 at 17:30.</em><br /> <br /> <strong>Life Animated</strong> This Oscar nominated film is the real-life story of Owen Suskind, the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind and his wife, Cornelia. A silent autistic boy, Owen memorised Disney movies to express love, loss, kinship and brotherhood and his family were thus forced to start communicating with him in Disney dialogue and song. <em>The Bioscope, Sat June 3 at 20:00.</em><br /> <br /> <strong>The Good Postman</strong> A dying town of just 48 people on the Bulgarian- Turkish border is the setting of this chronicle of postman Ivan’s bid for the mayoral chain. Ivan campaigns on his postal route, working to explain to the town's people that the Syrian refugees who trickle nightly through the streets, should stay and help rejuvenate the village. A beautiful and uplifting film. <em>The Bioscope, Sun June 4 at 17:00. </em><br /> <br /> <strong>Whitney: Can I Be Me? </strong>Nick Broomfield's new Whitney Houston documentary is a compelling and haunting profile of the pop star's life and tragic death which makes extensive use of intimate archive footage and interviews with her closest friends and family.<em> Cinema Nouveau Rosebank, Fri June 2 at 20:45 and Sat June 10 at 20:00.</em><br /> <br /> <strong>All Governments Lie </strong>This slickly-shot documentary profiles contemporary independent journalists, and the issues that matter most to them. Described as a tribute “not to the impossible folly of 'free' journalism, but to a higher purpose: ethical journalism”. <em>The Bioscope June 5 at 20:30 and Sun June 11 at 17:00.</em><br /> <br /> <strong>Goldblatt</strong> This tender and captivating documentary trails legendary South African photographer David Goldblatt as he travels around the country in his campervan capturing the essence and heartbreak of South Africa through his camera lens. Read the glowing review from <a href="http://www.channel24.co.za/Movies/News/this-doccie-about-a-sa-photographer-is-worth-the-watch-20170528">City Press here </a>and book your tickets now! C<em>inema Nouveau, Tue June 6 at 18:30. </em><br /> <br /> <strong>Strike A Rock</strong> An ode to the extraordinary women catalysing political change throughout the fallout of the Marikana Massacre. A counterpoint to Rehad Desai’s <em>Miners Shot Down</em> this film provides not just a history of the massacre but also a view of the rebirth of politics in the area, told from the viewpoint of Marikana’s women.<em> Cinema Nouveau, Tue June 6 at 20:45.</em><br /> <br /> <strong>The Challenge</strong> Fuelled by the petrodollar, falconry has reached ridiculous heights in Qatar with prize birds arriving in private jets complete with designer hoods and hand-polished beaks. Their owners speed down empty desert highways in their Lamborghinis – with pet cheetahs in the passenger seats. Set amidst breathtaking desert scenery, this is an eye-opening look at the lives of the oil-rich Arab state’s most wealthy citizens.<em>The Bioscope. Tue June 6 at 18:00 and 20:45. </em><br /> <br /> <strong>I Am Not Your Negro</strong> With a focus on the writing of James Baldwin, this film revisits the deaths of three civil rights activists: Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Medgar Evers, drawing on colour photos, grainy newsreels and Hollywood films to tell the story of race in America. <em>Cinema Nouveau, Fri June 9 at 20:45.</em></p>