France 2006, French with English subtitles, 35mm, 83 min
Director: Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kerven
Screenplay: Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kerven
Cinematography: Hugues Poulain
Cast: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, Velvet, Fernando Arrabal,
Print Source: Films Distribution
Strange almost beyond belief, Avida is a tribute to surrealism and more specifically the work of Salvador Dali, around whose work the film gravitates. Amidst this visual and conceptual weirdness, the film also finds the time and space to include a meditation on man's inhumane treatment of animals, as well as providing a social critique of class structure.
Described as a cross between Monty Python, Jacques Tati and a slideshow of New Yorker cartoons, Avida's real concern is the cruel inconsistency of life. Although the imagery is often disgusting and extremely alienating – to the point where it might make David Lynch nervous – the film's wildness and implacable madness will no doubt be the very thing that earns it a permanent place in the cult movie canon.
Stylishly shot in black and white, the film's plot – if you can call it that – involves a deaf-mute and two ketamine addicts who kidnap the dog of uber-plump billionaire Avida. But Avida proves too intelligent for the criminals and soon has them under her control.
The Cape Winelands will again at the 2012 edition of this festival present a series of Masterclasses and workshops. These events are sponsored by the City of Cape Town and Wesgro.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new film has the magic of a fairy tale and the simplicity of a folk tale. Wonderfully immersive, slow and dreamy, 
