Opportunity for South African and International Film Directors for Cannes

Call for Applications for the Cannes South African film factory 2016

 

Cannes 2015 saw the launch of the South Africa Film Factory 2016.  This move marks a great opportunity for South African film Directors and the industry as whole.

 

Cannes South African Film Factory will provide an opportunity for four (4) SA directors and four (4) international directors to collectively produce four (4) short films that would have a greater opportunity of screening at the official Cannes program next year. “This is the fourth programme we’re running since our launch. We’ve produced successful projects that have received rave reviews internationally, as well as being screened at the Cannes official programme, says Dominique Welinski from the Cannes Film Factory.

 

Local directors have five weeks to apply for this life changing opportunity. “Our selection process comprises a short list to ten directors, which will be followed by in-depth interviews at the Durban international Film Festival. This is where we will select the four qualifying directors, says Jeremy Nathan of Zidaka. Carol Coetzee KZN Film Commission CEO adds that “the programme is indeed a great platform to showcase not only what South African directors can do, but also what the country has to offer, particularly Durban as all the four films will be shot in KwaZulu Natal.

 

“We are proud to be associated with such a massive opportunity that will up skill our youth. The NFVF strives for an industry that is constantly growing, and this programme provides exactly that as it will uplift our talent, showcase the country as well as create collaboration,” says NFVF CEO Zama Mkosi.

 

In conclusion, Edouard Waintrop says that “the filmmaker, as an artist is a lonely person and often very individualistic. Dominique and I therefore came up with an idea to pair directors to work together, an idea that has resulted in great productions from Taiwan, Nordic Countries and Chile. We look forward to working with South Africans.”

 

Directors who wish to participate in this programme have five weeks to apply, and need to have a strong feature concept attached to their motivation, a producer must be attached, and need to have directed one short film, a first feature film, or a documentary. They can be between the ages of 23 and 35 years old. They need to be available to participate in a workshop during the Durban International Film Festival in July, and be available to film in October and November, 2015. The films will premier at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.

 

AFDA Durban has offered its edit facilities for postproduction. Media Film Services and Sound Surfers, Hollard Film Guarantors and Cote Ouest Audiovisual and Instit Francais are all official partners.

 

The selection of the 4 directors will take place at the beginning of the Durban International Film Festival by the partners. More information on how to apply and criteria can be downloaded on the Film Factory website.

www.zidaka.co.za/cannessouthafricafactory.

All the info you need for the European Film Festival coming to Cinema Nouveau

RETURN OF THE POPULAR EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL AT CINEMA NOUVEAU THEATRES IN MAY

Love has many faces as films explore ‘Beyond Love’ as the festival theme

Love has many faces, sometimes unexpected, sometimes challenging. As the Beyond Love theme suggests, the European Film Festival (#EuroFilmFestSA) explores some of them with the screening of ten internationally-acclaimed films, representing the best of European cinema but never before screened to South African audiences.

The European Film Festival (EUFF) will be shown exclusively at Cinema Nouveau theatres and runs from 09 – 18 May 2014, in partnership with 10 European cultural agencies and embassies based in South Africa.  All the featured films are the recipients of numerous awards and accolades at international film festivals and competitions, including the Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival. They are the latest productions from the most exciting and talented film directors in Europe at the moment, and a true reflection of European cinematographic creativity and diversity.

“The theme of Love serves as an interesting starting point for a European film selection. This contemporary selection of films allows us to experience tales beyond the cliché and ‘national’ narrative, to offer challenging, entertaining and compelling images of love, desire and the current state of Europe,’ says Darryl Els, EUFF 2014 festival director.

Lola Gallant, brand manager of Cinema Nouveau, is delighted that this exciting festival is making an appearance again. “We pride ourselves on providing a platform to screen the best foreign language fare, and the ten films lined up for the EUFF in May are a must-see. We are privileged to offer these films that would otherwise not be available in South Africa, at our cinemas, and are grateful to all the partners involved in putting this festival together.”

The list of films to be screened during the European Film Festival 2014 include:

·         Paradise: Love (Austria) - Cannes Film Festival 2012 – Official Competition,

·         The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium) - Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominated, 2014,

·         The Hunt (Denmark) - Cannes Film Festival 2012 – Official Competition Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominated, 2014,

·         Stranger by the Lake (France) - Cannes Film Festival 2013 – Best Director Award, Un Certain Regard section,

·         Barbara (Germany) - Berlin International Film Festival 2012, Best Director Award,

·         The Great Beauty (Italy) - Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2014,

·         Tabu (Portugal) - Berlin International Film Festival 2012 – Official Competition,

·         Child’s Pose (Romania) - Berlin International Film Festival 2013, Golden Bear (Best Film),

·         Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (Spain) - San Sebastian International Film Festival - Official Competition, and

·         Le Week-End (United Kingdom) - Toronto International Film Festival.

This special treat for movie-lovers is hosted exclusively by Cinema Nouveau nationwide, with the ten-day screening programme taking place concurrently in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria from 09 – 18 May. Bookings open on 15 April and special festival ticket rates will apply to make these foreign language films accessible to a wide audience.

The festival also features an outreach screening programme and a competition that gives ticket-holders the chance to win a trip for two to France, courtesy of Air France and Atout France (French tourism agency). All the details regarding the festival schedule, bookings and the competition mechanics can be found on the Cinema Nouveau website from 15 April: www.cinemanouveau.co.za.

The European Film Festival is co-ordinated by the French Institute of South Africa and organised in partnership with the European Union and eight other European cultural agencies or embassies in South Africa: the British Council, the Camões Institute, the Goethe Institut, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Flemish government delegation and the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Spain.

For booking information on the 2014 EUFF, visit www.cinemanouveau.co.za or sterkinekor.mobi, or call our Ticketline on 082 16789. Follow us on Twitter @nouveaubuzz.  You can also download the Ster-Kinekor App on any Nokia, Samsung Android, iPhone and Blackberry handset for updates, news and to book from your mobile.

Durban Film Selected for Cannes

A film produced and written by Durban filmmaker and AFDA Durban Scriptwriting Lecturer, Janet van Eeden, A Shot at the Big Time, the short, has been selected for the Cannes Court Metrage, the short film corner of the official Cannes Festival 2014. It was chosen out of over a million entries. 

(Janet van Eeden - Picture by Kwazi Ngubane) 

“This honour is something my co-producer, Magda M. Olchawska, and I have dreamed of since we joined forces to make A Shot at the Big Time, the short,” says Van Eeden. “We met online when I ran the Indiegogo.com crowd-funding campaign in 2011. I’d given up on the dream recently and am working hard at present raising funds to make the feature film by the end of the year, so when Magda let me know late on Thursday night that we’d been accepted I was over the moon.”

Van Eeden launched the crowd-funding campaign for Shot on 11th of the 11th 2011, on Remembrance Day, in remembrance of her brother, Jimmy, who was killed on the border in mysterious circumstances after being there for only three days in 1979. 

“I’d never been able to forget Jimmy’s tragic life, and after being challenged by film and theatre critic, Robert Greig, to write about my own life instead of writing plays about literary greats, I finally had the courage to put pen to paper and tackle one of the saddest experiences of my life,” she explains.

“Jimmy was my idol in the small town of Odendaalsrus. He was a rock star in the eyes of all the youngsters as he was the lead singer in a band which dreamed of making the big time. When he received his call-up papers when he was only seventeen, his dream was put on hold. Especially after he had a traumatic incident in basics which made him go AWOL, steal a rifle and fire rounds of bullets into the rubbish dump with the members of his band. A terrible accident happened and Jimmy had a breakdown and was classified as mentally unfit for military service. He tried to put his life back together again but he was broken by the events,” says Van Eeden. “Three years later the army forgot about the fact that they’d classified him as unfit and called him up to do Border duty. He was part of the infantry but he did not want to kill anyone. There are conflicting stories of what happened to him on the border on that fateful day, but all we know for sure is that three days after arriving on the border, my parents received a phone call telling them that Jimmy had been killed by a ricochet bullet.” 

(Brad Backhouse as Jimmy; Tim Wells as Wiese; Caval Goodyear as Smit.  A Shot at the Big Time. Picture by Val Adamson) 

The feature film script of A Shot at the Big Time is based on the the story of the tragic loss of Van Eeden’s brother which she says is Oedipal in its intensity. When she couldn’t get funding for the feature without giving away the rights to the film completely, and thereby compromising on the integrity of the story, she decided to do a crowd-funding campaign after listening to US expert Peter Broderick at the Durban Film Mart in 2011. She decided to produce the film herself. She didn’t raise enough money for the feature on Indiegogo.com but received so much support, including finding gifted young director from Australia, Stephen de Villiers and London producer Magda M. Olchawska, that they decided to shoot the short film instead. The lead actors auditioned online as part of the crowd-funding campaign and “the best actors I could’ve dreamt of” were found in Brad Backhouse as Jimmy and Sean C. Michael as the antagonist Van Staden. De Villiers flew out in July 2012 to film Shot the Short. Even an executive Producer, Athol Williams, was found through the campaign and he gave whatever he could to make the short film happen.

A Shot at the Big Time was one of the projects selected for the Durban FilmMart in 2012 and the short film premiered at the Durban International Film Festival in July 2013. It was awarded an eThekwini Film Award in November 

2013. 

Producer, Magda M. Olchawska will represent A Shot at the Big Time at Cannes, as there has not been enough time to raise sponsorship for Van Eeden’s visit. However, she hopes the whole team  will represent Shot next year when they enter the feature into the festival.

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/festival/CannesShorts.html