Tuesday 11 June 2024, Johannesburg. The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, lead a delegation of forty South African filmmakers in an unprecedented creative and cultural celebration of South Africa's 30-year democracy milestone.
In a historic moment for South African film, the NFVF, in collaboration with its key strategic partners the Industrial Development Corporation, Brand South Africa, Wesgro, the KZN Film Commission, the Durban Film Office and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, lead a diverse cohort of practitioners who got the opportunity to network, engage and pitch their projects at the festival's key programmes.
Spearheaded by the Chairperson of the NFVF Council, Ms Tholoana Ncheke-Mahlaela, who boasts public and private sector legal and policy framework experience in the creative sector, the delegation consisted of 40 producers, supported by 16 delegates from the various partners. The Cannes Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres. Outside of the meetings engaged on, during this year's edition the South African delegation participated in events and platforms held at the South African hub, country specific pavilions and the business film market, also known as the March du Film (March ).
It was an esteemed privilege to champion the South African delegation at the 77th International Film Festival where our strategic intention behind positioning South Africa as a production destination of choice was met in a manner which not only exceeded expectations, but also affirmed what we know to be true about or dynamic and incredible industry made so by its remarkable filmmakers. As we exit the local democratic elections and gear up to commemorate the June 16 Soweto Uprising which was one of the catalysts for South Africa's dawn of democracy, it was an honour to witness South Africa's finest storytellers representing the incredible strides our industry has made during the past 30 years of democracy, a decade of which was marked by the stewardship of Ambassador Nkosinathi Mthethwa, during his service as the Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture , says Ncheke-Mahlaela who delivered a keynote address at the Inauguration of the Bharat Pavilion, hosted by the Government of India.
The South African hub comprised of a multi-functional stand, a striking feature at the March , which was positioned optimally in clear view of BRICS country partners India and Brazil, with whom co-production engagements took place. For the first time, the NFVF hosted a one-on-one conversation between globally renowned South African Director, Mandlakayise Dube and South African Film & Television Award (SAFTA) winner, Bonko Khoza who discussed the experience of filming Netflix's Heart of the Hunter.
South Africa's presence was cemented at programmes which took place at the Producers Network, the Bistrot de L rins and Cannes Docs, the documentary hub. Facilitated by the NFVF, the team was led by the Acting Chief Executive Officer, Ms Thobela Mayinje, whose decade-long tenure at the NFVF comes with a strong background in human capital development in the creative sector.
The South African itinerary this year was intentionally robust to ensure that filmmakers and stand partners alike experienced the festival exceptionally well and to showcase how brilliantly the story we have to tell as South Africa, can come to life. Our presence at Cannes this year represents incredible growth in comparison to recent years, where continued development through the leveraging of more strategic platforms at Cannes is more possible now. I'm incredibly proud of the NFVF team that worked tirelessly for months to get partners on board and facilitate the presence of such a strong pool of practitioners and a captivating stand hub. We showed the world what it means to #LoveSAFilm and I could not be prouder and excited for the film practitioners who lived this experience through and through , says Mayinje.
On the co-production front, South Africa's jam-packed itinerary included a cocktail hosted by the Netherlands Film Fund (NFF) where the significant moment of the renewal of the NFF and NFVF Thuthuka Co-Development Initiative took place. Attended by the Netherlands Minister of Arts & Culture, Ms Fleur Gr per-van Koolwijk, this signing marked the extension of the agreement for another two years, as indicated by Mayinje during her opening remarks. Furthermore, a Brazil and South Africa meet-and-greet mixer for producers held in partnership with Brazilian counterparts Spcine, laid a foundation for the panel discussion which took place, which unpacked the experience of South African and Brazilian producers working on afro-diasporic projects and announced the Spcine and NFVF Development Fund Call which opens later this year.
Proud moments included the South African series by Gambit Films, Blood & Water, winning the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion award at the Global Production Awards, the screening of Spier Films' short film Spiral and the presence of South Africa's Encounters Film Festival at Cannes Docs as an official partner. Festival Director Ms Mandisa Zitha delivered a keynote address focused on 30 Years of Documentary filmmaking and threw forward to the up-coming Encounters Film Festival taking place in Cape Town and Johannesburg at the end of this month.
South Africa signed-off its presence through an intimate networking cocktail inaugurally held at the Bistrot de L rins where Ambassador Mthethwa's poignant address encouraged the South African delegation to keep making globally relevant films that keep the South African nation brand resilient.
ENDS.
For media requests, contact:
Lerato Mokopanele
Marketing and Communications Manager
National Film and Vide
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
Tuesday 11 June 2024, Johannesburg. The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, lead a delegation of forty South African filmmakers in an unprecedented creative and cultural celebration of South Africa's 30-year democracy milestone.
