The Department of Trade and Industry, (the dti) will participate at the 38th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) scheduled to take place from 13-23 July 2017.
The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. It is one of the oldest and largest film festival in Southern Africa and presents over 200 screenings celebrating the best in South Africa, African and international cinema.
According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies the dti participation at DIFF is one of the best platforms a country can promote and showcase the country’s creative skills, where the Film and Television unit proposed participation in the festival through workshops, dialogues and screening of productions funded by the department.
Davies says the platform will be used to market the department’s South African Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive and target relevant producers who qualify for the incentive.
“The incentive objective is still to create an environment that take advantage of the country’s diverse and unique locations as well as low production costs and favourable exchange rates, which makes it significantly more cost-effective to produce a movie in South Africa than in Europe, the United States or Australia,” says Davies.
He adds that the sector has enormous potential in bringing the necessary currency into the economy and can act as an important vehicle through which technology is transferred and South African skills base is upgraded.
Productions supported by the dti to be screened are: The Wound, Hard To Get, Double Echo, Hope, The Killing Floor, The Whale Caller, Winnie, Vaya, The Most Beautiful Day, Catching Feelings, Mhlola and Asinamali as the closing night Film.
The Department spent R468 million with projected investment of R3.4 billion in 2015/2016 financial year supporting the sector.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti
