Joburg Film Festival 2023 to open industry doors for the disadvantaged
Lifestyle

Joburg Film Festival 2023 to open industry doors for the disadvantaged

By Lisa

According to the festival director Bongi Selane, they “want to celebrate the coming together of filmmakers from around the world in one space, in Joburg!”

JOHANNESBURG – After a two-year hiatus, the Joburg Film Festival promises to make a bigger and better return.

The festival’s organisers announced that it would take place from 31 January 2023 to 5 February 2023.

According to the festival director Bongi Selane, they “want to celebrate the coming together of filmmakers from around the world in one space, in Joburg!”

She told Eyewitness News that the festival paid attention to the development of skills in the film industry adding that their youth and development programme was one of their key pillars.

“Its primary aim is to give the youth from our townships and/or aspiring filmmakers, who are storytellers but may not have had the privilege of going to film school. We want to give them access to the industry by hosting workshops and masterclasses on key aspects of filmmaking,” said Selane.

The Joburg Film Festival in partnership with Multichoice seeks to thrust upcoming film and TV creatives from disadvantaged communities into the spotlight.

“We want them to interact with filmmakers, hear from current film practitioners about the process of filmmaking and learn from them,” explained Selane.

The festival aims to create over 60 feature premieres.

It will also undertake a dynamic range of industry initiatives including the Industry Programme, the Youth and Audience Development Programme, the Film Society Joburg and the JBX Content Market initiative.
“We have an excellent film selection that will be revealed soon; we are going to have highly informative, robust, and inspirational panel discussions, host masterclasses and project pitches. Our goal really is to bring the industry together to vibe, to celebrate our stories, our films in the city of gold,” detailed a beaming Selane.

Now in its 5th year, Selane said she hoped to see films that mirrored South Africa from various aspects.

“I’d love to see a more inclusive industry representative of gender, sexual orientation, colour, creed etc. I want to see all types of films that represent all facets of South Africa, and all facets of humanity. I want to see films that speak to our realities today, right now. I want to see films that will appeal to everyone – not just a white audience or a black audience, but one that speaks to the human condition. An industry that challenges us to think differently, one that breaks down barriers and one that challenges the audiences,” she said.

The series of workshops and screening events will take place between October 2022 and January 2023 across Gauteng’s five regions: Sedibeng (8 – 9 October), West Rand(22 – 23 October), Ekurhuleni (5 – 6 November), Tshwane (26 – 27 November) and Johannesburg regional session taking place in January 2023.

Registration can be done online.

“The Joburg film festival is committed to inclusivity, and we want everyone to be part of the celebration of cinema. Representation will be evident in the films we select and in making sure everyone has access to those films in the venues we will be screening. Whether through our Youth and Audience Development Programme or the physical festival next year – it is going to be a film festival for everyone who loves films,” said Selane.

The two-day workshops will provide insights into the filmmaking process and its different disciplines and the opportunity to network with industry leaders during each workshop.

“Film festivals are not just about the screening of films. Film festivals offer filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their storytelling skills, showcasing trends, highlight relevant themes and communicate to audiences how they see the world, helping audiences to also open up to new alternatives, and new ways of thinking that may better serve and better help us understand the human condition,” said Selane.

In addition to the programme, attending young filmmakers can participate in the exciting new Young Voices Short Film Competition.

Registered attendees will be invited to create short films around the theme “What Inspires You About The Township” and submit their entries for consideration.

“Alongside the film screening programme, the Joburg Film festival will also host workshops and masterclasses which are a creative and professional platform that support filmmakers: festivals offer a wonderful space that allows for networking and foster a spirit of collaboration among filmmakers, and they are a great platform to interact with international and regional industry representatives,” said Selane.

Three overall winners will be selected from across the five regions by an esteemed panel of expert judges. The top three selected filmmakers will receive a scholarship and various other prizes.

Joburg Film Festival was born out of the desire to create an exciting and independent platform that not only tells Africa’s stories, but curates, showcases, and rewards local and international excellence in film.

For all the latest lifestyle News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! TechAI is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Lisa 24688 posts 0 comments