The myth is that although South Africa offers a kaleidoscope of adventure and experience, local films are safe and bland. South African film director Sibs Shongwe-La Mer believes stereotypes are constantly pushed."Our films sell township perceptions and it's always the same story about the ghetto or American-type gangsters. The audience don't see themselves in the stories. This makes the cinema stale and boring," Shongwe-La Mer said.This is slowly being countered by young filmmakers who are confronting the norm. The work of some of them will be showcased at the 36th Durban International Film Festival, starting today.Although apartheid-era type plots still feature, with white protagonists, township lifestyle, poor black men, gun-swinging coloureds and dancing Indians, more prominent are the films that producers and directors believe are more "risky".Film director and professor Jyoti Mistry said the old type of South African film should be "wrestled" with to ensure they did not mirror foreign aesthetics."People have expected South Africans to make films about our past. Apartheid stories need to be told because it asserts the African narrative that was previously absent," she said.Mistry said some of the younger filmmakers appreciated diversity and took risks in storytelling. One such is Shongwe-La Mer, who wrote and directed Necktie Youth, a film about the uncomfortable reality born-free middle-class young people struggle with.Executive producer Elias Ribiero said it was unfair to generalise about the local film industry but there was room for filmmakers to push the boundaries."There's an appetite for [brave films] in the international market. They want topical stories told from a unique perspective."For Shongwe-La Mer there is only one way to tell a story: with "rigorous honesty"...