Wesgro and Industry Adapting to Business Unusual

WESGRO & INDUSTRY ADAPTING TO BUSINESS UNUSUAL

From the South African Film and Television Awards to COVID assistance, Wesgro continues its support of local filmmakers across the Western Cape.

Carol Babalwa Mtshiselwa with her SAFTA in 2018

14 TH SAFTAS CELEBRATION

On 29 April 2020, the 14 th annual South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) – or should we say, the inaugural virtual SAFTAs – were held online with a live broadcast on various social media platforms. The awards were originally scheduled for 27- 28 March 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the starstudded event was cancelled.

Despite technical issues, the SAFTAs went ahead on Wednesday evening with, radio and television personality Dineo Ranaka hosting the awards show. Among the many winners in the Western Cape was Carol Babalwa Mtshiselwa, who won the award for Best Achievement in Make-Up and Hairstyling in a Feature Film for her work in Knuckle City. Mtshiselwa previously took home the award in 2018 and 2019 for Best Achievement in Make-up and Hairstyling in a TV Drama for Lockdown. Other notable wins for the Western Cape were Roberto Kyle and Denise Newman. Kyle took the award for Best Actor in a Telenovela for his role as LeeRoy Foster in Arendsvlei, while Newman won the award for Best Actress in a TV Soap for her role as Bridgette October in Suidooster.

Film Cape Town and Wesgro Film and Media Promotion team would like to congratulate all the SAFTA winners on their achievements once again. We are proud of the voice you continue to give South Africa, especially in these unprecedented times! To see the full list of SAFTA winners visit www.nfvf.co.za.

CANNES GOES DIGITAL

Although this year’s physical Cannes Film Festival has been postponed, Marche du Film will still take place this year exclusively online. A standalone market in conjunction with the Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prominent film festivals around the world, Marche du Film will be held online from 22-26 June 2020 in support of international film industry professionals.

The intent of Marche du Film Online is to mimic the experience of attending the market in Cannes with alternative ways of facilitating meetings and networking events. Online screenings, video meetings, and conferences programmes are just some of what you can expect to find.

Wesgro’s Film and Media Officers, Monica Rorvik and Lisa Mini, will be attending the 4-day virtual event in an effort to continue promoting Cape Town and the Western Cape’s film industry. www.marchedufilm.com.

VIRTUAL ANNECY TO TAKE PLACE

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the Annecy International Animation Festival plans to go ahead this year virtually. Animation professionals and enthusiasts will get to enjoy an unprecedented festival experience at the virtual Annecy Festival, which this year had the continent of Africa as its focus. Even though the event will celebrate Africa once again when it goes live next year, the 2020 event will still have many areas of impact.

There are currently two accreditation options to attend the online festival. The first gives access to the entire 2020 Official Selection, Work in Progress, Masterclasses and the Making Of. However, this does not include the film market (MIFA), and Annecy Network. The second option is MIFA accreditation, which offers access to all festival content and all the MIFA formats, and ‘areas’.

Wesgro’s FMP team will virtually be attending this year’s MIFA to promote the region’s creative industry. The Annecy Festival will run from 15-30 June 2020. www.annecy.org.

22 ND ENCOUNTERS POSTPONED

The African continent’s premier documentary event, the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, has been postponed. The festival, now in its 22 nd year, was due to run from 4-14 June 2020, but will now be postponed until later in 2020. However, there is opportunity in adversity and new horizons appear, the festival plans to execute a limited virtual industry programme with a small selection of short films available online.

For further updates please follow Encounters on social media or visit their website: www.encounters.co.za.

COVID-19 CONTENT CENTRE

The Department of Economic Development and Tourism, together with Wesgro, the City of Cape Town, and industry partners, have activated the official a virtual COVID-19 Content Centre. This consists of sector specialists and communications experts, set up to develop reliable content to assist industry and manage daily queries and business concerns. These FAQs, which include film, can be found on www.supportbusiness.co.za. If you have any questions or queries, please send them to supportbusiness@wesgro.co.za.

For more information, contact film@wesgro.co.za