Sithengi Film & Television Market Cape Town World Cinema Festival

About Us

About Us

Sithengi, a Section 21 non-profit organisation based in Cape Town, was established in 1995 with the aim to promote the development of and trade in African film and television products; to expose African film and television products to the international arena; and to provide development and training support in the areas of marketing and selling these products to potential buyers. This is accomplished by hosting 2 annual events - the Cape Town World Cinema Festival and the Sithengi Film and TV Market. These events have positioned Sithengi as the premier film and television event organisation in Africa.

The 2006 Cape Town World Cinema Festival takes place from 14 to 21 November and incorporates the Sithengi Film & TV Market, 16 to 18 November.

 

THE CAPE TOWN WORLD CINEMA FESTIVAL (CTWCF)

  • International Festival
  • Over 130 films from more than 25 countries
  • Audience attendance rose to 18 115 during 260 screenings at 7 venues including 4 community venues
  • Focus on World Cinema – “Films from the South” – Africa, Asia, South America, Australia
  • Independent films from Europe & US
  • Red Carpet Opening Event
  • Feature films, short films and documentaries
  • Screening venues throughout Cape Town
  • Community Screenings
  • Children’s Festival & workshops
  • Competition Films reviewed by an international jury
  • Red Carpet Screenings every night with discussion panels
  • Gala Awards Night with Awards presented in various categories

THE SITHENGI FILM & TELEVISION MARKET

The Sithengi Film & TV Market is the business component of the CTWCF and is aimed at industry professionals, talent and aspirants.

  • The Market components are the Co-production Forums (FFCF, DCF, WF); the Product Market (product library; market screenings and Exhibition Centre); Talent Campus and Conferences; and the African Co-production Forum (ACF)
  • 1710 delegates from 54 countries across the globe
  • 36 broadcasters from 13 African countries and 5 European/American countries 233 broadcasters/buyers representing 60 companies in the broadcast industries in 20 countries
  • Significant delegations from Australia, Zimbabwe, USA, UK, Nigeria, Namibia, Ghana, Kenya, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Sweden and smaller delegations from Ireland, Denmark, Mozambique and the Netherlands
  • Takes on the same productive structure as many other international markets of its kind
  • Only International Market of its kind in Africa for film, TV & allied industries
  • Over 30 Conferences / Seminars / Workshops
  • Sithengi Talent Campus in co-operation with the Berlinale Talent Campus
  • Co-production Market (Documentary, Feature Film, Writers)
  • Product Market (Product Library, Market Screenings)
  • One-on-one focused meetings with international and national industry professionals and many, many opportunities to socialize with these professionals
  • Exhibition & display halls
  • Numerous networking Sessions

THE CO-PRODUCTION MARKET

The Sithengi Co-production Market aims to bring about the buying and selling of ideas around film and television programmes yet to be made, which may require development or co-production partners, or a combination of investment and pre-sales.

Feature Film Co-production Forum (FFCF)
- Matching African Feature Film Projects with International Producers

  • Follows a similar process and format to the Rotterdam Co-Production model
  • After an initial entry and selection process, one-on-one meetings are set up between the producers of predominantly African projects and the international participants
  • The objective is to match African projects with international co-producers/financiers/distributors
  • International Prizes are offered annually for the best projects pitched

Documentary Co-production Forum (DCF)
- Matching Projects and Broadcasters

  • Provides African documentary filmmakers the opportunity to find broadcast and co-production partners
  • Projects selected for participation in the DCF at Sithengi Film & TV Market
  • Projects pitched to international broadcasters / commissioning editors at the DCF at Market
  • Projects pitched receive either commitment or interest from international broadcasters/commissioning editors

Writers’ Forum (WF)
- Matching Writers with Producers

  • Opportunity for writers to meet producers to pitch their screenplay in a series of one-on-one meetings.
  • Projects selected during the mid-year round and sent to a local and international script expert to write script reports on each screenplay
  • Writers from Africa selected to meet with a mix of local and international producers and financiers, with the hope of securing a deal to get their screenplays developed into films
  • Officially scheduled meetings take place between writers and producers during the Writers’ Forum (WF) at the Market
  • In addition to the WF at the Market, a script clinic is held on the last day for the original 5 writers from the mid-year round to meet the scripts experts in a series of one-on-one consultations to address issues raised in the script reports

THE PRODUCT MARKET

The Sithengi Product Market deals in the buying and selling of completed product.

Exhibition

  • 54 Exhibiting Companies
  • Over 80 Exhibition Stands
  • 15 new local and international exhibiting companies in 2005
  • Exhibitors included broadcasters from Nigeria and Ghana and the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); Government departments and agencies such as the Department of Arts & Culture (DAC), Department of Communications (DOC); the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI); South African Revenue Services (SARS) and others

Product Library

  • 86 Tapes in Product Library
  • Fully digitised system

Market Screenings

  • 29 Market Screenings

THE SITHENGI TALENT CAMPUS

  • 2nd Sithengi Talent Campus established in partnership with the Berlinale Talent Campus was yet another huge success with:
    • 43 Talents most of whom were from South Africa with 7 from Africa and 1 from German
    • 23 local and international Masters from South Africa, Burkina Faso, Rwanda/Belgium, Italy, Argentina, Denmark, Zimbabwe, Canada, USA, Switzerland, France and the UK
    • Master classes were presented on the following topics:
      • Copyright and the Legalities of Film
      • Directors Masterclass
      • Low Budget filmmaking and the Argentinean Model
      • Documentary Masterclass
      • Developing Children’s Films and Programming
      • Animation Masterclass
      • A Practical Workshop on Producing with Digital
      • We’ll Fix it in the Edit
      • Marketing and Distribution
      • Spark: A Script development Programme for Feature Films

Important Dates to Diarise:

14 – 21 November: Cape Town World Cinema Festival
16 – 18 November: The Sithengi Film and TV Market
14 November: Opening Film
15 November: Mayor’s Welcome Party
16 November: Market Opening Ceremony

See 2005 CEO's Report.

For more information contact us;
Tel: 27 21 430 8160
Fax: 27 21 430 8186
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: sithengi.co.za

 



The Department of Communications The Government of the Western Cape City of Cape Town National Film & Video Foundation Department of Arts & Culture SABC
 
Berlinale Talent Campus
Goteborg Film Festival
Department of Trade & Industry
Cape Film Commission
Good Hope FM
Goethe Institut
IDC Industrial Development Corporation
Italian Embassy
Knowledge Focus
Nu Metro
Ster Kinekor
Tempest Sixt
The French Embassy
Telkom Media
British Council
Hubert Bals Fund
Videovision Entertainment
Waterfront Studios
Sithengi, the Southern African International Film & Television Market Initiative
© All content copyright Sithengi 2005