The Durban Film Festival is underway and there are a number of wonderful documentaries in the line up well worth checking out.
One of these is the moving, very personal family story told by accomplished South African filmmaker Terry Westby-Nunn (above, right), entitled Letters From Teddy.
The story is told through correspondence between Westby-Nunn’s grandparents – the eccentric Teddy and his beloved Sally – during the 1950s. The love letters, discovered by the filmmaker not long before her grandmother’s death, reveal a fascinating tale about the star crossed couple who were never able to marry. When the nature of their relationship was discovered it had a lasting and profound impact on their own lives as well as on their son Tony.
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| Teddy Westby-Nunn, 1948 |
The film uses 8mm family archive footage, letters between Teddy and Sally, as well as interviews with Tony (Westby-Nunn''s father) who was initially reluctant to even read the letters.
Expect to be moved by this insight into how the colonial society of Aden at that time saw not enduring love, but a scandal – and how that response influenced the lives of this family.
You can view a snippet of Letters From Teddy, and learn more about the film maker, at www.terrywestbynunn.com
For more, check out the Portfolio Travel Blog interview with Terry Westby-Nunn.
DIFF Screening times for Letters From Teddy
FRIDAY 30 JULY
Ster Kinekor Musgrave B
22:00 - 72 minutes
Filmmaker in attendance
22:00 - 72 minutes
Filmmaker in attendance
SUNDAY 1 AUGUST
Nu Metro CineCentre - Suncoast B
16:00 - 72 minutes
Filmmaker in attendance
16:00 - 72 minutes
Filmmaker in attendance
Don’t miss a chance to meet Terry Westby-Nunn and other film makers on SATURDAY 31 JULY from 10:00-11:30 at the Royal Hotel PA
1 Response to Moving Documentary Tells Complex Love Story through Letters at the DIFF
A disturbing story set in a time and place which is fast disappearing from memory. An important record beautifully portrayed. Well worth several viewings.
By Gill Bowmer (3 years ago)