In what is planned to be the biggest national marketing drive for the South African commercials production sector to date, the Cape Film Commission (CFC) is spearheading an initiative to market the country at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, which runs in Cannes, France from 15 to 21 June. The Durban Film Office (DFO) has confirmed its partnership in the initiative - South Africa House at Cannes Lions - and at the time of going to press, the Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) was in discussions regarding its participation.

SA Xposed, the umbrella brand under which a group of South African production companies were successfully marketed at Cannes Lions for the past three years, has fallen away in favour of the new initiative.

South Africa House will be situated at a brand new beach venue - La Plaige, which is diagonally opposite the Majestic Hotel on the Croisette and in close proximity to the Palais des Festivals, the hub of activities. Participating companies are invited to take advantage of sponsorship opportunities at R15 000 per table at South Africa House, where they will be able to entertain clients, screen their showreels and display their branding.

According to the CFC's Bianca Mpahlaza South Africa's participation at Cannes Lions was approached in a different way this year. "Previously, independent volunteer producers together with the CFC, GFC and DFO collaborated to create the SA Xposed platform in Cannes. Needless to say this took a toll on the volunteers, and of course there were concerns around transparency and fairness across South Africa's regions. This year the initiative has grown to an extent whereby the volunteers were not required and we can therefore provide a platform with various government and private sector companies for the commercials industry."

Read more in the May 2008 issue of Screen Africa