The 36th edition of the Durban International Film Festival opened yesterday with the feature film Ayanda and the Mechanic. Director Sara Blecher's movie, the coming-of-age story of a young woman trying to save her late father's business, arrives direct from its world premiere at the LA Film Festival and a screening at the Cannes Film Festival.Ayanda won the special jury prize at the LA festival, at which it was hailed as "a fresh and original voice in world fiction cinema". It was said that "the streets of South Africa become an integral character in this story".The movie is not flawless (one subplot too many takes it perilously close to melodrama) but it is insightful and thought-provoking, especially in terms of the film within the film.The broad plot is about Ayanda struggling to keep the memory of her Nigerian father alive, to prove to her mother and uncle that she can make the business financially viable, but this story incorporates a quasi-documentary made by a young ethnographer who, through his photos of Ayanda and others in the community, creates a more nuanced take on Africa - one that goes beyond the crude portrayal of a continent plagued by xenophobia, violence and poverty. The montage is modern, edgy and beautifully stylised. It's this, the portrait of urban Johannesburg as a vibrant, energetic, colourful patchwork, a multicultural melting pot, that is fresh and engaging."The idea of the documentary was central always," said Blecher, "As much as it is a drama, it is equally a portrait of a new African city. There is no Aids, no violence, no shootouts. It's intentionally not about those things."Blecher has previously called Yeoville - the setting for Ayanda - the New York of Africa and the film makes good use of the almost limitless collection of cool street fashion.For Blecher, being a director means directing many people's stories in one film and, although you need experience in that world, it doesn't have to be your own."You can't possibly be all those people. You always have to tell other people's stories. Anything - research, journalism - that allows you to spend time in that world then allows you to tell those stories."Her style of film-making, she said, is the intersection of the personal and the political.Her company, Real Eyes Films, received National Film and Video Foundation state funding to develop nine movies over three years. Two of the films approved for development are being screened at this year's festival: Ayanda , and an Afrikaans drama, Dis Ek, Anna , adapted from Anchien Troskie's best-selling biography.'Ayanda and the Mechanic' is co-produced by Terry Pheto, directed by Sara Blecher and written by Trish Malone. It stars Fulu Mugovhani and OC Ukeje. It opens at cinemas nationally on October 2...