March 2010

In November last year, the GFC commissioned Quest Research Service to undertake an employment survey. The objective was to measure employment creation in the Province’s film industry as well as to gain a better understanding of how the economic recession and crisis at the SABC has impacted the industry. With this edition of In Focus we publish the results of the survey. We are pleased to announce that over 400 companies participated in the research, making it one of the biggest surveys of its kind conducted in recent years. We hope this will become an annual survey that will allow us to build up an up-to-date provincial profile of sectoral employment creation.

One of the areas that the survey assesses relates to trends around Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). To coincide with the release of the survey, we’ve compiled a special feature of the month on the survey, and also looking at sector transformation to gain industry views on transformation trends. In line with this theme, we also update you on the GFC’s efforts to support the work of emerging filmmakers through career workshops and special community screenings. We also look at recent projects supported by the GFC’s Industry Support & Development programme.

Lastly, one of the most anticipated industry events this year must surely be the opening of the Cape Town Film Studios. To celebrate this major event we publish a comprehensive guide to studios in Gauteng. While the Cape Town Film Studios will undoubtedly offer unrivalled studio capacity, Gauteng is already home to 20+ studios servicing a wide range of productions.

Terry Tselane
Chief Executive

Post 1945, buildings in the two urban hubs of Gauteng, Johannesburg and Pretoria, went up. The higher, the better. Urban densification was the order of the day. While cities in Europe were rebuilding, cities in Gauteng were simply building as if the war was a cleansing process. Thus South African Modernism was born. Architects plundered influences from the latest American and European trends and, in a nod to the New World, also freely used Niemayers Brazilian Modernism. Glass, steel and concrete were the new materials.

The GFC is calling on Gauteng-based filmmakers to submit film projects for consideration as part of the GFC’s efforts to support the industry during the current downturn. The GFC is offering development funds, production assistance, grant funding for internships, mentorship and training programs and support for projects that enhance employment opportunities.

Applications forms are available at www.gautengfilm.org.za.

The GFC officially launched the ‘Film Friendly Gauteng’ campaign in November last year (2009), to position the Province as an attractive and competitive film destination.

Our objective with the campaign is to ensure Gauteng is one of the world’s most accessible and supportive centres for film production. The ‘Film Friendly Gauteng’ campaign is therefore aimed at guaranteeing that Gauteng’s locations are welcoming and our suppliers competitive in their pricing structures.

As part of this campaign, we are bringing on board studios, locations, hotels, car rental companies and other suppliers and providers of services to the industry. We therefore call on all suppliers to the industry to sign up and commit to the ‘Film Friendly Gauteng’ campaign. We call on all the industry players to endorse this campaign.

In order to confirm your participation, kindly contact Tumi Ntshingila at tel: +27 (0)11 833 0409 or tumi@gautengfilm.org.za.

The GFC is offering a series of workshops, supported by the film industry, and set to benefit the community in the Gauteng Province, many of whom do not have access to professional training due to the costs.

The GFC Career Workshops offer series of competency-based workshops designed to propel participants to emerging professional status more quickly. Participants work with experienced tutors on professional-level equipment in a professional, practical ‘hands-on environment’ right from the beginning.

For more information, email info@gautengfilm.org.za or desmond@gautengfilm.org.za.

Expect more South African box office releases than ever before this year, with around 30 feature films are jostling for release. Skin, Amelia, White Lion and Jozi are already on circuit.

The dates are set for Outrageous (5 March), The race-ist and Lion of Judah (both 9 April), Endgame (23 April), Shucks Tshabalala Survival Guide to 2010 (18 March), Egoli the movie (18 June 2010), For better For worse (2 July) and Shirley Adams (13 August), while releases are also expected for Paradise Stop, I Now pronounce You Black and White, Themba, Violance, Master Harold……and the Boys, The Bang Bang Club, Spoon, Chanda’s Secrets, Long Street, The Unforgiving, Jock of the Bushveld, Bakgat 2, Rubbish van Rooyen, Everyman’s Taxi, Spud, Night Drive, A Place called Descent, Foreign Demons, Bloed- spoor and Jakkalsdans.

To watch many of the trailers, visit www.thecallsheet.co.za/videos

Encounters, the annual South African Documentary festival, is calling for entries from South African and international filmmakers for 2010, the 12th edition of the festival.

Deadline: 31 March 2010. Website: http://www.encounters.co.za

The Durban Film International Film Festival (DIFF) is calling for entries.

Deadline: 31 March 2010 for short films and documentaries; 15 April 2010 for feature films. Website: http://www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

The Magma International Short Film Festival is calling for entries.

Deadline: 10 March 2010: Website: http://www.magmafestival.org/

The theme of the 5th Africa Motion (AIM) film festival is ‘Celebration’ and African filmmakers are invited to submit documentaries relating to this theme to be considered for inclusion in the October 2010 festival. This is an opportunity for African filmmakers to showcase their work at one of the most prestigious African film festivals worldwide and to gain exposure to a wide audience in the UK.

Deadline: 20 April 2010. Website: http://africa-in-motion.org.uk/callfordocs