Following the recent announcement of the return of the Joburg Film Festival in 2023, the festival has partnered with MultiChoice with the vision to unearth and shine the spotlight on upcoming film and television creatives from the townships and other disadvantaged communities.
The festival’s upcoming 2023 programme was launched amid much fanfare at an exclusive industry event in Fourways, Johannesburg – along with the details of the festival’s extensive youth and audience development programme.
Set to run from Thursday, 31st January 2023 to Sunday, 5th February, the Joburg Film festival will not only screen over 60 feature premieres, but will also include a dynamic range of audience and industry initiatives including the Industry Programme, the Youth and Audience Development Programme, the Film Society Joburg and JBX Content Market initiative.
With its on-going vision to prioritises the growth and development of young South African and African filmmakers, the Youth and Audience Programme will conduct and host a series of skills development and empowerment workshops for budding film creatives.
Now in its 4th year, the outreach programme focuses mainly on young people in disadvantaged and underdeveloped communities.
The two-day workshops will provide insights into the filmmaking process and its different disciplines, in addition to the opportunity to network with industry leaders during each workshop.
Not only that, a series of workshops and screening events will take place between October 2022 and January 2023 across Gauteng’s five regions as listed below:
· Sedibeng: 08 – 09 October 2022
· Westrand: 22 – 23 October 2022
· Ekurhuleni: 05 – 06 November 2022
· Tshwane: 26 -27 November 2022
· Johannesburg: 14 – 15 January 2023
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.
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: world-renowned film curators roped in
The Joburg Film Festival once again boasts a well-known and globally respected team that includes award-winning film producer Bongi Selane, who will return as the 2023 film festival director.
The festival curation team is made up of Zimbabwean born international film creative, Keith Shiri, who has served as a programme advisor to both the London and Venice film festivals. He was a member of the Berlinale World Cinema Fund from 2004-2007. Joining him as the film festival programmer is the equally established and well-known industry expert, Jack Chiang.
Youth and Audience Development programme
DAY 1
· Acting Workshop
· Story and Conceptualisation Workshop
· Pitching and Proposals Workshop
· Production Accounting Workshop
DAY 2
· Acting Workshop II
· Director’s Master Class
· Content Creators Master Class (covering cinematography, art directing, music scoring, animation and producing)
Registration can be done online via www.joburgfilmfestival.co.za.
Limited tickets will be available for sale from November 2022.
MultiChoice’s partnership with Joburg Film Festival: what it means?
The festival’s partnership with MultiChoice comes in the wake of a launch of a compelling docuseries on Showmax called Origins, which revisits the career journeys of five young film creatives – among them filmmaker Sanaa Mothabisa filmmaker Sanaa Mothabisa, historian and performer Manthe Ribane, musician Mandisi Dyantyis, and visual artist Tony Gum – who have made a difference in their communities using the art of storytelling.
Speaking exclusively to NOWinSA at the launch, MultiChoice Corporate Affairs’ group executive Collen Dlamini said the partnership is another way the Pan-African entertainment company wants to show how invested they’re in telling authentic African stories.
“We believe that everyone has an exciting story to tell, whether it’s an established creative or the lesser known individual looking to showcase their skills and be heard. As MultiChoice, we are passionate about showcasing and spotlighting these authentic stories about our beautiful country and the continent at the large, and equally so about the people who create them.”
“This is a reminder that the world is waiting to listen to your story. We hope we inspire more storytellers to take centre stage and be unapologetic about their craft,” added Dlamini.
