Friday, January 6, 2012

The Art of Short Films



Filmmakers across South Africa are invited to enter the DStv Film Talent Celebration competition, launched on 2 December 2011 with a closing date of 29 February 2012. The competition focuses on celebrating the talent of very short-filmmaking in South Africa. A very short film is considered to be between three and ten minutes long. Itumeleng Letebele, Corporate Social Investment Manager at MultiChoice suggests,”Short films are becoming popular, mostly because they are easily accessible to a wider audience via platforms such as mobile devices, tablets and online vehicles.” The competition is open to any genre of film as long as the filmmaker believes it is a high impact offering, and is between three and ten minutes long.

Only filmmakers who are South African citizens can enter their films. An esteemed panel of judges who are industry professionals will select winners for each of the six categories: Best Production, Best Director, Best Editor, Best Sound, Best Cinematography and Best Newcomer. The competition celebrates talent but will also see the winners walk away with cash prizes. “It is expected that this cash will be ploughed back into making more films that tell South African stories,” says Letebele. The winners will be announced at a special gala event, where the selected short films will be screened. ”It will be an occasion for networking, appreciating talent and generally reflecting on our achievements as an industry. We will also take this opportunity to recognise the up-and-coming filmmakers from DStv’s Film Skills Development Programme,” says Letebele.  

According to Lindiwe Ndebele-Koka, Director of Multimedia at the Department of Arts and Culture, “Competitions such as these stimulate competitiveness of young filmmakers. It is a good tool to identify the talent that exists in the industry. It is encouraging.”

For more information on how to submit entries, filmmakers can visit www.multichoice.co.za