Robyn Rorke’s Shamiela’s House has won the Audience Award for Best South African Documentary at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, which ran recently in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The Best International Documentary winner was voted to be Angel’s in the Dust, directed by Louise Hogarth.
Almost 6,000 festival goers voted in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. The Audience Award referee was Professor Tim Dunne, Head of Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town.
The Top 3 South African Films were: Shamiela’s House directed by Robyn Rorke; Zulu Surf Riders directed by Andre Cronje and Carlos Francisco; and The Shaman’s Apprentice directed by Catherine Winter.
The Top 3 International Films were: Angels in the Dust directed by Louise Hogarth, Iron Ladies of Liberia directed by Siatta Scott Johnson and Daniel Junge; and Stranded – I’ve come from a plane that crashed on the mountains directed by Gonzalo Arijon.
Says festival director Mandisa Zitha: “Encounters values the Audience Awards as they are a gauge of audience tastes and preferences. We are grateful to our festival-goers who attended the screenings, gave critical input to the filmmakers through our Q&A and panel discussions and voted for our Audience Award. It has become evident that South Africa has the capacity to grow an intelligent and engaged documentary film audience. We will continue with the Awards which give us insight when selecting for next year, “said festival director Mandisa Zitha.
