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The Market is the only one of its kind in Africa and our main aim is to provide a platform whereby industry leaders, decision-makers, entrants and aspirants can convene in an environment that promotes the African industry identity in a sustainable, profitable and internationally recognisable way. Sithengi has proven an influential engineer and facilitator of initiatives that affect growth and development in the film industry in the SADC Region. In 2004 the 9th Sithengi Film & TV Market boasted a highly developed and targeted Market programme and saw a significant increase in the number of delegates, from 1451 in 2003 to 1924 in 2004, a growth of 32%. The Delegate registration total for 2004 was 1924 delegates from 46 countries across the Globe. Countries represented were African (23), European (12), South American (2), North American (2), Middle Eastern (1) and Pacific Rim (6). The number of South African delegates increased from 954 to 1385 or 45% and the number of international delegates grew from 497 to 539 or 8%. Significant delegations came from Canada, Nigeria, Italy, Zimbabwe, Germany, the UK, the USA, Namibia and France. The Product Market showed growth in numbers of products submitted to the product library, from 118 in 2003 to 152 in 2004. For the first time the product market was run on a tapeless system sponsored by Knowledge Focus. The Feature Film Co-production Forum (FFCF) began with a one-on-one consultation with Heather Mansfield for all projects followed by scheduled one-on-one meetings with Rand Merchant Bank, the IDC, Mnet, Sasani, SABC2, SABC 3, the NFVF and Ster Kinekor. Compared to 2003 when 20 projects were selected, in 2004 32 projects were selected from Nigeria, Namibia, Zimbabwe & South Africa. 27 International co-producers, financiers and sales agents participated in the process from France, UK, Italy, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany and Sweden. 221 Official meetings were set up between producers and sales agents and project promoters with an additional 70 unofficial meetings. The Goetheborg FF and Hubert Bals Fund (International Film Festival Rotterdam) awarded Euros 10 000 each to Bryan Du Toit for "Cape Flats" and Rumbi Katedza and Jackie Cahi for "Playing Warriors" for the Best 2 African Projects. The Writers Forum (WF) provided a platform for 22 writers from all over Africa to meet with 32 local and international producers during 135 scheduled meetings over 2 days. The Prize for best script went to Zimbabwean, Ian Pugh with "Paw Paw". The Documentary Co-production Forum (DCF) yielded 28 projects from Gauteng, the Western Cape and Natal, including 6 projects from the Black on White series, which were pitched to 8 international Commissioning editors. The NFVF prize for best Documentary pitch was awarded to Vincent Moloi for "A pair of Boots and a Bicycle" The Sithengi Talent Campus was a huge success with 45 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 with experts from all over the world in everything from writing and legal issues to directing, producing, and distribution. The 3rd Children's Festival was successfully hosted and saw children watching films and learning about filmmaking. South Africa signed a co-production treaty with Germany during the Market. Sithengi has secured a management contract to administer a Film Fund of Euro 375 000, namely, the Hivos/Sithengi Film Fund, which will provide funding for film projects in 2005 to filmmakers from the SADC region. For more on the Fund go to sithengi.co.za/fund. The full Sithengi 2004 Report will be posted on the website shortly. We look forward to an even more successful 2005 as we gear up for Sithengi's 10th Anniversary Celebrations. For More Information, contact Sithengi Film & TV Market Tel: + 27 21 430 8160 Fax: + 27 21 430 8186 E-mail: [email protected] Website: sithengi.co.za

Posted on Monday 21 Feb 2005