3SAI: A Rite Of Passage, an award-winning, 14 minute experimental film by South African director Paul Emmanuel, was shortlisted by an international jury as one of three nominations for The Best Experimental Film of the 9th In The Palace International Short Film Festival, Balchik, Bulgaria.
“It was a privilege to attend the festival,’ says Emmanuel. ‘The organisers made it feasible for filmmakers from all over the world to attend what would otherwise be a very expensive opportunity. It was a once in a life-time experience.’
In The Palace International Short Film Festival is a festival for professional short films of up to 45 minutes in length, which is held in Bulgaria each year in the second half of June in the Black Sea town of Balchick. The festival was established in 2003 and has grown from a competitive forum for student films into the largest and most prestigious short film festival in Bulgaria and the region.
The 2011 festival was attended by over 100 filmmakers from all over the world, and was juried by an all-female panel representing diverse voices from the world of film.
3SAI: A Rite Of Passage previously won the 2009 jury prize in the Short Film competition at the 4th Africa-In-Motion Festival of the Edinburgh International Film Festival in the UK as well as the Best Experimental Film Award at the Sardinia international Film Festival, Italy in 2010 and has been officially selected for numerous other festivals.
Emmanuel graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1993. He was the first recipient of the prestigious Ampersand Fellowship, which recognises talented emerging South African artists and offers them a residency in New York.
