The Australian High Commission in Pretoria is bringing Michael Laverty, the Managing Director of Tropfest, to South Africa, as the festival is screening in the country for the first time.
During his stay, Laverty will visit Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Pretoria as part of a series of free screenings of Tropfest Short Film Festival from 16 to 19 March in partnership with Ster-Kinekor’s Cinema Nouveau.
Tropfest has grown to become the world’s largest short film festival after it began 20 years ago in a local cafe in Sydney, Australia. With competitions in Australia, South East Asia, New Zealand and the Middle East, Tropfest’s organisers have said that they hope to establish an African version of the competition in the future.
Said John Polson, Tropfest Founder and Director: “The massive expansion of Tropfest around the globe conveys a worldwide appetite for fresh storytelling voices. It is so exciting to have Tropfest travel to Africa. We know that there is an enormous community of storytellers in this region, and we hope to one day establish a local platform for these filmmakers – with a global audience to share their stories with.’
Australia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, His Excellency Graeme Wilson, commented that he hoped Tropfest would be well received by South African audiences and that he was proud that Australia was supporting this important cultural exchange in the film sector.
“The festival forms part of a larger programme of cultural and sporting events planned to coincide with this year’s 20th anniversary of democracy celebrations, which will showcase the strong and diverse Australia-South Africa relationship to the broader public,’ said Wilson.
Australia and South Africa established a treaty-level film co-production agreement in 2011. This agreement with practical benefits, such as allowing Australian and South African filmmakers to pool their creative and financial resources, aims to streamline some of the administrative and funding issues around co-operation in filmmaking.
Tropfest Short Film Festival in South Africa takes place from 16 to 18 March at Cinema Nouveau V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Sunday 16 March; Ster-Kinekor The Bridge in Port Elizabeth on Monday 17 March; and at Cinema Nouveau Rosebank Mall in Johannesburg on Tuesday 18 March.
The festival is free, but tickets are limited and must be reserved by contacting TicketLine on 082 16789. Tickets will be issued on a first come, first served basis.
Visit the Tropfest Short Film Festival website for more information.
See the Screen Australia website for more information about the potential benefits of the bilateral film co-production agreement for filmmakers.
