Akin Omotoso’s Jesus and the Giant, Anthony Fabian’s Skin, Francois Verster’s Sea Point Days and Steve Jacob’s screen adaptation of Nobel Prize winning author JM Coetzee’s Disgrace are the four South African films that will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) which takes place in Canada from 4 to 13 September.

The first three films received funding from the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), which has been working with TIFF co-director and programmer Cameron Bailey to facilitate entry of South African films into the festival since 2004.

The NFVF is also supporting Omotoso and his producer Robbie Thorpe and Sandra Laing (whose life story is adapted in Skin) to attend TIFF.

Says Omotoso: “I’m very excited as Toronto is one of the top film festivals in the world and it is an honor to have Jesus and The Giant screened there. This is also all the more exciting because the festival doesn't usually programme short films.”

Cape Town-based Moonlighting Filmmakers, who were co-producers on Skin, the first South Africa/ United Kingdom co-production feature film, will be attending TIFF for the film’s world premiere. Moonlighting associate producer Dylan Voogt says, “We feel that Skin is a really compelling story, one that needs to be told. Although it is a uniquely African story it has certain universal truths that we believe will resonate with international audiences, so we are hopeful that it will be well received.”

Sea Point Days producer Neil Brandt says that “TIFFwill provide the ideal international platform to launch the film onto the global festival circuit, and will hopefully be instrumental in bringing it to the attention of international broadcasters”.

The NFVF’s Ryan Haidarian comments: “It’s phenomenal to have films that we have supported being recognised by a prestigious film festival such as TIFF. The NFVF is consistently aware of the fact that we have had successive award-winning films at TIFF with Hotel Rwanda a United Kingdom, South Africa and Italy co-production which received the top prize under the category, AFG People’s Choice Award in 2004 and Tsots,i a co-production between the UK Film and Television Production Company, Moviworld from South Africa, the NFVF and IDC, which won the Audience Award at the 2005 TIFF”, says Haidarian.