Out In Africa is finally movin on ... 994 to 04

As you must know Out In Africa is 21 years old, and in that time we have raised in the 10s of 1,000,000s of Rands to run the Festival in many cities and towns across South Africa: Cape Town, Jozi, Durban, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, East London, Ermelo, Potchefstroom, Grahamstown, Mafikeng, Kimberely, George, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, and in Botswana and Namibia. Weve shown some 1,160 films (including 112 SA titles) at over 3,500 screenings over a period of some 640 days to 100s of 1,000s of people, and hosted 160+ SA and international guest filmmakers.

Despite all this, the funding and sponsorship horizon is not rosy. We cannot raise sufficient funding to continue the Festival in its current incarnation. And now we must look at doing things differently. Strides in technology have had their impact on social gatherings such as film festivals in South Africa.

OIA will now have an office in the African Gender Institute at UCT. There we will house our substantial video and DVD library. We do not have the rights for these films, so we will have to restrict access to scholars and researchers, and we will assist Jane Bennett, Head of the AGI, to design a course around Queer Film and deliver the necessary content.

There is also the opportunity that we will be contracted as a content provider for a Video On Demand (VOD) service delivering LGBTIQ content at a very reasonable, affordable rate. As soon as we have more information well let you know.

This does not mean that we will no longer have public events - as and when the money is there we shall have smaller outings. So, please do not stop with those contributions - either as direct donations, or though the MySchool initiative. Every little bit helps!

This is November, and we are near the completion of our feature film. The title is While You Werent Looking and the cast includes Fezile Mpela, Pertronella Tshuma, Sandi Schultz, Camilla Waldman, Lionel Newton, Thishiwe Ziqubu and Terence Bridgett. Tina Jaxa and Thembi Mtshali also appear in smaller roles. We should be complete by January 2015. The film has been funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, with additional support from the Department of Trade and Industry. It is an all-South African affair! We are looking at an April release in South Africa and we hope to see you there.

Do join us for our final(ish) outing - 13 to 16 November at Cinema Nouveau - Rosebank and V&A. Check the website for details of films on offer. www.oia.co.za

LINK:	http://www.filmcontact.com/news/south-africa/out-africa-finally-movin-...
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