Cape Town World Cinema Festival
The Cape Town World Cinema Festival is hosted by an organization called Sithengi. This organization was founded in 1995 and is based in Cape Town. Sithengi is dedicated to the promotion and support of the African Film Industry. To expose locally made productions and to create an awareness of the talent that is found in Africa, the Sithengi Organization for Film and Television organizes two events every year. They are the Cape Town World Cinema Festival and the Sithengi Film and Television Market.
The program for the Cape Town World Cinema Festival does not only showcase African films, but includes international productions. In previous years audiences were able to enjoy approximately 130 different films that were entered from no less than twenty-five countries. The festival also screens documentary films and short films. The films are available for viewing at different venues across the city, which have included Mitchells Plain, the V&A Waterfront, Joseph Stone Theatre, Cinemax, Emarike Centre, Gugulethu and Cinema Nouvea. This year should be no different, with delegates and audiences flocking to Cape Town from all over the world.
Other events to look forward to at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival include the highly anticipated Red Carpet Opening Event, the great variety of independent films, workshops, a children’s festival and the prestigious Gala Awards Night. It is the Gala Awards night that all the festival-goers anticipate the most, to find out if the actor or film that really impressed them walks away with the prize. The awards are divided into the following film related categories: Signis Jury Priza, the NLDTF Newcomer Award, the Lionel Ngakane Award and the awards for the Best Short Film, Best Documentary, Best Writer, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best African Feature Film and the Best Feature Film.
The Sithengi Film and Television Market takes place at the same time as the World Cinema Festival in Cape Town, which means that the market gains exposure and draws the attention of the many distributors, broadcasters, representatives, sales agents and producers that come to join in the festivities. The World Film Festival in Cape Town also aims to nurture appreciation in the eyes of the local public for the African film industry and to create a film culture that Africa can be proud of, for generations to come.
