Cape Town's premier film festival, the Cape Town World Cinema Festival (CTWCF), incorporating the Sithengi Film & TV Market, is set to take to the screens from 14 - 21 November 2006.
Tuesday, 14 November is Festival Opening Night and promises another spectacular Red Carpet affair as prelude to a week of awe-inspiring international feature films, documentaries and short films before the final credits roll on Tuesday, 21 November.
Last year the Festival boasted over 130 films from more than 25 countries and audience attendance rose to 18 115 during 260 screenings at 7 venues including 4 community venues across Cape Town.
The main focus of the Festival is to showcase World Cinema films - films that are not your traditional Hollywood motion picture studio films, but independent films from Africa, Asia, South America and Australia, with a significant selection of independent films from Europe & US. Another Festival highlight is the Children's Festival & workshops.
The Sithengi Film & TV Market, the business component of the CTWCF, is currently in its 11th year and takes place at the Artscape from Thursday, 16 to Saturday, 18 November. The success of the Market is largely attributed to the support it receives from our main financial partners, of which the SABC is one. This partnership will continue in 2006 as confirmed by Yvonne Kgame, General Manager of the Content Hub at the SABC, "The SABC is proud to once again partner with the Sithengi Film and Television Market. As broadcast leaders, we have a responsibility to inform and positively influence the production industry, forge relationships with African and International partners and ensure "Total Citizen Empowerment". We want to encourage the industry to support the Market and to help build on the success of the past 10 years."
Being the only market of its kind in Africa for film, TV and allied industries, it offers the ideal environment for not only seasoned industry professionals, but also the aspirant filmmaker and student who seek to develop their filmmaking skills or make critical connections with potential financiers and co-producers to further develop their projects.
With its 10th anniversary celebrations last year the Market hosted over 1700 delegates from 54 countries across the globe including 36 broadcasters from 13 African countries and 5 European & American countries. The Market also saw 233 buyers representing 60 companies in the broadcast industries from 20 countries. Significant delegations attended from Australia, Zimbabwe, USA, UK, Nigeria, Namibia, Ghana, Kenya, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and Sweden with smaller delegations from Ireland, Denmark, Mozambique and the Netherlands.
Highlights of the Sithengi Film & TV Market include;
- Opening party by the Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town
- Over 30 conferences, seminars and workshops
- Co-production Market, comprising of a Feature Film Co-production Forum (FFCF), Documentary Co-production Forum (DCF) and Writers' Forum (WF), to facilitate the development of local film product through financing and co-production for the global market. The Co-production Market offers one-on-one focused meetings with international and national industry professionals and many opportunities to socialise with these professionals
- African Co-production Forum (ACF) - developing strong feature film projects from West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa
- Product Market, which includes a Product Library and Market Screenings
- Exhibition of local and international industry players and organisations
- Numerous networking opportunities in a social and relaxed environment
Says Sithengi Chairperson, Mr Eddie Khalipha Mbalo, "The Cape Town World Cinema Festival and Sithengi Film and Television Market remain the flagship event on the calendar of the film industry in South Africa. As the Chairperson of the board I am grateful for the continued support of our funders; National Film and Video Foundation, Department of Arts and Culture, South African Broadcasting Corporation, Department of Communication, the City of Cape Town and the Province of the Western Cape."
"We hope to continue presenting a memorable event and we look forward to welcoming the industry to Cape Town again."
For more information, contact;
Sithengi
Tel: 27 21 430 8160
Fax: 27 21 430 8186
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: sithengi.co.za
Posted on 214342006
