At a Board meeting held on 28 April 2005 Sithengi, the curator of the Cape Town World Cinema Festival (CTWCF) and Sithengi Film & TV Market, elected its new Office Bearers. Mr Eddie Mbalo, NFVF CEO, has been elected chairperson of the board with Ms Yvonne Kgame, SABC Content Hub, as Vice Chairperson. The NFVF and SABC are Sithengi's two main financial partners. The Sithengi Board is constituted of representatives of Sithengi's main financial partners and industry: Department of Communications (DOC), Department of Arts & Culture (DAC), National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF), SABC, City of Cape Town, Provincial Government of the Western Cape and industry representative, Ms Seipati Bulani-Hopa. Additional members of the board are being nominated.
At the Board meeting Sithengi CEO, Mr Michael Auret, presented the 2004 Report and plans for 2005 which showed that Sithengi has grown considerably as an organisation that pioneers and facilitates economic growth in the film industry in South Africa, Southern Africa and Africa.
Last year we embarked on a strategic re-branding process of the CTWCF as Sithengi's main event showcasing World Cinema to the South African public with the Sithengi Film & TV Market as its professional component providing industry with a business platform.
The mission of the CTWCF is to grow South African and especially Cape Town audience appreciation, recognition and knowledge for films from Africa and independent films from around the world with the aim of providing a platform for stakeholders to engage with these audiences.
We are proud to report that in 2004 the CTWCF and Sithengi Film & TV Market saw significant growth. The CTWCF showed 90 films from more than 25 countries with 180 screenings at 7 venues across the city including 4 community venues. The audience attendance rose from 3 310 in 2003 to a remarkable 16 000 in 2004.
Opening Night was a spectacular public event with a live music concert and Red Carpet Premiere in the in Artscape Opera House followed by an after party. Red Carpet Premieres took place every night in the Main theatre with discussion panels. 20 Films in competition were reviewed by an international jury, which culminated in a glamorous Gala Awards Night.
The 3rd Children's Festival took place based on the successful partnership with the Children's Broadcasting Foundation in Africa (CBFA) where disadvantaged children are taught aspects of filmmaking, animation, radio production and best practices in children's broadcasting.
The final Delegate registration total at the Sithengi Film & TV Market was 1924 from 46 countries across the Globe, viz, 23 African countries; 12 European countries; 2 South American countries; 2 North American countries; 6 countries from the Pacific Rim and 1 Middle Eastern Country. The number of delegates from South Africa increased by 33% and the Market also saw an increase in international guests with significant delegations from Canada, Nigeria, Italy, Zimbabwe, Germany, UK , USA, Namibia and France.
The Market facilitated the signing of the South African/German Co-production Treaty last year, the third international co-production treaty to be signed at Sithengi.
Participation in Sithengi's core programmes, the Co-production Market, comprising of Feature Film and Documentary Co-production Forums and a Writers' Forum; the Product Market, which offers a Product Library and Market Screenings and the 1st Sithengi Talent Campus, in co-operation with the Berlinale Talent Campus, also proved an astounding success.
The Feature Film Co-Production Forum (FFCF) allows African projects to be matched with international co-producers/financiers/distributors. In the mid-year Feature Film Co-production Forum (FFCF) projects were presented to Rand Merchant Bank, (RMB), Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Mnet, Sasani, SABC 2, SABC 3, the National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF) and Ster Kinekor. The 2004 FFCF included 27 international participants from the UK - 8, Germany - 6, Italy - 2, USA - 5, Sweden - 1, France - 3, Hong Kong - 1, Australia - 1. During the FFCF 221 meetings were set up between the producers/sales agents and project promoters. 32 projects from South Africa - 27, Zimbabwe - 3, Nigeria - 1 and Namibia - 1 were officially selected to go through to the FFCF at Sithengi 2004. Prizes of Euro 10 000 from the Goteborg Film Festival and Euro 10 000 from the Rotterdam Film Festival and Hubert Bals Fund are offered annually for the best projects pitched.
The Documentary Co-production Forum (DCF) is an initiative developed between Sithengi and the Encounters Documentary Film Festival to provide African documentary filmmakers the opportunity to find broadcast and co-production partners. 28 projects from Gauteng - 10, Western Cape - 9, Natal - 3 and 6 projects from the Black on White series were pitched to 8 international commissioning editors from ARTE, France; ZDF, Germany; SBS, Australia; Trace TV , France; Film Finance Corporation, Australia; YLE, Finland; ITVS, USA; and the SABC. The NFVF prize for best Documentary pitch was awarded to Vincent Moloi for "A pair of Boots and a bicycle".
The Writers' Forum (WF) provides an opportunity for writers to meet producers in order to pitch their screenplay in a series of one-on-one meetings. 5 projects were selected during the mid-year round in 2004 and were sent to a local and international script expert to write script reports on each screenplay. At the Market, 22 writers from all over Africa met with 32 local and international producers during 135 scheduled meetings over 2 days. In addition to the WF at Sithengi, a script clinic was 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.
For the first time the Product Market was fully digitised and saw an increase in products submitted to the product library, but a slight decrease in market screenings. 2004 also saw the participation of many African Broadcasters of which sponsored Broadcasters were from Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Seychelles, Malawi, Burkina Faso and Namibia. Approximately 36 broadcasters attended the market last year from 13 African countries and 5 European / American countries.
The Market's extended programme of events included over 20 Conferences on topics ranging from "What is the State of African Cinema" to "Developing New Markets" and a Digital Conference that concentrated on trends and possibilities for Distribution and Exhibition. This, in addition to numerous networking functions.
The Market Exhibition also increased, boasting 78 stands, and Sithengi offered exhibitors added value by setting up one-on-one meetings.
The Sithengi Talent Campus was a huge success with 45 accredited Talents / Students from Johannesburg (11), Port Elizabeth (1), Durban (2), Zimbabwe (1), Zambia (1), Swaziland (1), Uganda (1) and Cape Town (27) attending 13 Master Classes presented by 24 Masters / Experts from all over the world in everything from writing and legal issues to directing, producing, and distribution.
Sithengi has also taken over the administration of a film fund, previously administered by Dutch NGO, HIVOS. The HIVOS/Sithengi Film Fund is a production fund for producers from the SADC Region and will be administered by Sithengi in 2005.
Sithengi would like thank its main partners and sponsors for their support during 2004, which resulted in an increase in sponsorship by R6 147 174 or 217%.
Says Sithengi Board Chairperson, Mr Eddie Mbalo, on Sithengi's success, "Sithengi has made great strides and on behalf of the Board I wish to commend the management and team for the hard work and considerable efforts made to ensure the success of the past year."
This year the 4th CTWCF, 11 - 20 November, hosts the 10th Anniversary of the Sithengi Film & TV Market, 15 - 18 November, and plans for this landmark celebration are already underway. "We as the Board need to acknowledge the great work done by the CEO. We look forward to your future plans and confirm our support for them." Said Mr Eddie Mbalo.
For more information, contact;
Sithengi
Tel: +27 21 430 8186
Fax: +27 21 430 8160
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: sithengi.co.za
Posted on Monday 9 May 2005
Festival Daily
Market Daily
