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Carly Barnes

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Channel O features live broadcast of the 2014 Billboard Music Video Awards

Carly Barnes
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On 19 May at 02h00, Channel O (DStv channel 320) will air a live broadcast of the 2014 Billboard Music Video Awards, which will take place at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

Hosted by hip hop star Ludacris, the ceremony will feature a number of pop sensations who made the final nominations list, including Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Drake, Beyonce, Jason Derulo, Rihanna, Lorde and Imagine Dragons.

Audiences can look forward to an extensive line-up of musical performances including the premiere of the official Brazil 2014 World Cup Anthem We Are One (Ole Ola), which will be performed by Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez. Chart topping artists Shakira, Robin Thicke, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, John Legend, Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea will take to the stage to deliver live musical performances and the ceremony will also offer viewers the opportunity to experience the world debut of Michael Jackson’s posthumous album Xscape.

The broadcast will be repeated on Channel O on 19 May at 19h00 and on 24 May at 16h30.

Visit the Channel O website for more information.

Documentary on Fela Kuti musical acquired for North American distribution

Carly Barnes
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Finding Fela, a documentary about the Broadway musical FELA! which follows the story of Nigerian human rights musician Fela Kuti, has been acquired by independent film distributor Kino Lorber to screen in the US.

Directed by renowned US documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney and co-produced by Okayafrica, Jigsaw Productions and Knitting Factory Entertainment, Finding Fela featured at the Sundance Film Festival in January where it received sold-out screenings.

Gibney said, “I’m very proud of Finding Fela and am delighted that the film will have a robust theatrical release in North America, so that audiences can experience the story and the power of this extraordinary performer and fighter for social justice. As Fela has said, in fighting for a better possibility, “music is the weapon.’’

The film captures the journey and reception of the musical production FELA!, which found a new home in Kuti’s birthplace in Lagos after a successful Broadway run which earned it 11 Tony Award nominations and three awards for Best Choreography, Best Costume Design of a Musical, and Best Sound Design of a Musical in 2010. It will be the first Broadway show to play in Africa with its original cast.

International networking and portfolio showcase event for creatives

Carly Barnes
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Portfolio Night, a one-night-only event which takes place in cities around the world, brings emerging advertising copywriters, art directors and designers together with creative directors for a night of advice, networking and recruitment. The event will be taking place at the Vega School of Brand Leadership in Johannesburg and Cape Town on 21 May.

Now in its twelfth edition, Portfolio Night was founded by Ignacio Oreamuno, Executive Director of the Art Directors Club and IHAVEANIDEA, an online resource for advertising professionalsof which he is also the founder. It is presented by the Art Directors Club, an international organisation which awards leaders in creative communications, and is brought to South Africa by advertising agency McCann.

As well as serving as a kind of “speed-dating’ for creatives, the event will afford one attending advertising professional the chance to be one of 24 creatives selected for a trip to New York to compete in a week long creative challenge, involving a real creative brief for a real client.

Tickets cost $10 (approximately R100) and can be purchased from the Eventbrite website for Johannesburg and Cape Town.

View the Creative Director line-up and schedule for Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The venue details are as follows:

Johannesburg
Vega
444 Jan Smuts Avenue
Bordeaux
Randburg
011 521 4600

Cape Town:
Vega
3rd Floor
11 Adderley Street
021 461 8089

View the event promo video.

Visit the Portfolio Night website or the Mccann website for more information.

The HP LiveVault solution from Altonet provides Cloud solutions

Carly Barnes
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Freight forwarding company Manica Africa is, for compliance purposes, legally required to keep ten years’ worth of border and customs transaction records. But, as most of its branches are situated in bandwidth-constrained rural and remote areas such as border posts, it is vital that the company make use of up-to-date, failsafe backup and recovery storage solutions. Altonet recommended Manica Africa use the HP LiveVault from HP Autonomy in order to address their specific challenges. This solution was further implemented in seven of their branches throughout South Africa.

Dennis Battiscombe, IT Manager of Manica Africa South Africa says, “Having an available and accessible backup of our data is critical, not only for compliance purposes but also for risk management. For example, in the event of a dispute, if we cannot prove that a customs transaction took place, we are held liable for outstanding amounts with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) – and this could add up to hundreds of thousands of Rands.

Our original backup solution was not centralised, with each branch conducting its own tape-based backup. This was inefficient and unreliable due to backups not run timeously and backups not completed. We therefore decided to centralise our solution, but inadequate bandwidth at many outlying areas proved to be a real limiting factor. Attempting to complete continuous backups to the Cloud in these areas was causing backups to fail, which meant that we were left vulnerable to the consequences of data loss.’

In order to deliver up-to-date and reliable backup and recovery, LiveVault is able to combine disk-and cloud-based technologies, regardless of any bandwidth constrictions.

Gareth Tudor, CEO of Altonet explains, “The HP LiveVault solution makes use of a Turbo Restore Appliance (TRA), which conducts continuous backup every 15 minutes on the Local Area Network (LAN). This is then sent to our centralised vault in Teraco’s data centre in Isando. Since we are only sending these backups via the cloud once a day on a predetermined schedule – usually at night – even Manica’s remote sites could be assured of the highest levels of reliability with regard to their backup and recovery. Furthermore, Altonet’s vaults are duplicated in another data centre, providing Manica with complete security of their backup.’

Battiscombe concludes, “The team from Altonet were fantastic, delivering the solution on time and providing support whenever and wherever necessary.’

Visit the Altonet website for more information.

NFVF to represent SA at the Cannes International film festival

Carly Barnes
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In an initiative to encourage interest in the local film industry and to market South Africa as a premium filmmaking destination, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, the Durban Film Office and Western Cape marketing, investment and trade promotion agency WESGRO will attend the 67th Cannes International Film Festival, which takes place from 14 to 25 May in Cannes, France.

The internationally recognized event will give NFVF representatives an opportunity to network and interact with international sales agents, distributors, funders and key global players.

In promotion of South Africa’s 20 years of democracy the NFVF will showcase films which are relevant to this benchmark, including: Miners Shot Down, Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me, iNumber Number and One Humanity. Another three films by female filmmakers which highlight this achievement will also be screened.

Five South African filmmakers will be sponsored by the NFVF to attend the Creative Minds producer’s network programme; which will assist filmmakers in conducting film business on international platforms.

Zama Mkosi CEO of the NFVF says, “As we celebrate the 20 years of Freedom we reflect on the strides that we have made both as a nation and the local film industry. From a tool that served as propaganda tool for the apartheid regime, the industry has evolved to a conduit for social cohesion and economic vehicle that creates jobs and contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).’

The KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, which is attending the festival for the first time, hopes to promote the province as a location for filming through creating awareness on locations, provincial incentives and the filmography of major films which have previously shot there.

Carol Coetzee, CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, comments, “The province of KwaZulu-Natal is positioned to be the next big film destination. Our mandate is to stimulate the economy in the area of film and thereby contribute to the GDP of the country. Over and above being a destination for film, we plan to grow the film industry from a skills and facilities point of view, our plans includes being a content generator through our film fund, funding films by local filmmakers, as well as those from elsewhere who are planning to shoot their film in the province.’

South Africa’s participation will be focused on the NFVF message: Attracting new markets and investments.

Durban FilmMart announces final project selection

Carly Barnes
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The 5th Durban FilmMart, which takes place from 18 to 21 July alongside the 35th Durban International Film Festival (17 to 27 July) at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni Hotel, has announced the final film projects which will feature at the industry finance and coproduction market.

Out of 164 submissions, 10 fiction projects and 10 documentary projects have been selected by an international committee of film professionals to feature at the Finance Forum. The closed forum will provide a two-day pitching and packaging training programme before filmmakers are given the opportunity to engage in one-on-one meetings with possible investors and co-producers.

Documentaries will also be pitched to a panel of commissioning editors and funders in the DOC Circle Pitching Forum, an organized pitching setting co-ordinated in association with the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA). The fiction feature agenda will be coordinated in association with Rotterdam International Film Festival’s CineMart.

Fiction film selection

All Time Idlers, directed by Khaled Hafez and produced by Hossam Elouan (Egypt)
The Boy in the Mask, directed by Jan Lampen and produced by Jennifer Mostert (South Africa)
Cold Stone Jug, directed by William Collinson and Ashleigh Nash (South Africa)
Dances of Red, directed by Oshosheni Hiveluah and produced by Tapiwa Mahaka (Namibia)
Hawa Hawaii, directed by Amirah Mohamed Tajdin and produced by Wafa Mohamed Tajdin (Kenya)
Nyanga Sky, directed by Matthew Griffiths and produced by Rafeeqah Galant (South Africa)
The Story of a Kiss, directed by Ahmed Amer and produced by Wael Sayed El Ahl (Egypt)
The Train of Salt and Sugar, directed by Licinio De Azevedo and produced by Pandora Cunha Telles (Portugal/Mozambique)
Tree of Crows, directed by Stephen Abbott and produced by Eduan van Jaarsveldt (South Africa)
The Wound, directed by John Trengove and produced by Elias Ribeiro (South Africa)

Documentary selection

Afterglow, directed and produced by Amber (Arya) Lalloo (South Africa)
Alex On Seventh, directed by Engelbert Phiri and produced by Guy Bragge (South Africa)
Alison, directed by Uga Carlini and produced by Amy Nelson(South Africa)
Beyond the Barricades, directed by Zanele Muholi and produced by Joost Verheij (South Africa)
The Colonel’s Stray Dogs, directed by Khalid Shamis and produced by Steven Markovitz (South Africa)
Egyptian Jeanne d’Arc, directed by Iman Kamel and produced by Talal Al-Muhanna(Egypt)
Home Expulsion, directed and produced by Kayambi Musafiri (Rwanda)
In search of African Duende: The Uganda Flamenco Project, directed by Caroline Kamya and produced by Keren Cogan (Uganda)
Kula: A Memory in Three Acts, directed and produced by Inadelso cossa (Mozambique)
The Sound of Masks, directed by Kofi Zwana and produced by Sara Gouveia (South Africa)

Visit the Durban FilmMart website for more information.

New world record set for binge-viewing

Carly Barnes
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Binge-viewing, a term used to describe a cultural trend of spending hours watching numerous episodes of television series, has reached a new world record. On 5 May, Erik Pettersson, Mascoll Silverstolpe, Thobias Johansson and Aina Lessefour aimed to beat the previous TV binge viewing record, which was set by Dan Jordan, Spencer Larson and Chris Laughlin in January 2014 when they watched 87 hours of the TV series 24.

On 9 May, Pettersson reached 90 hours of viewing 24 on Viaplay, a Scandinavian online media service for TV, film and sports content. Silverstolpe also managed to beat the previous record by watching the series for 87 hours and 17 minutes. Lesse left the competition after 24 hours and one minute while Johansson left after 38 hours and 46 seconds.

Pettersson commented: “It’s been a real feat, harder than we ever imagined, but it’s also been great to really test our limits. That said, it will probably be a while before we get to watching the few remaining episodes (24). Binge-viewing is a team sport and we are both winners.’

The challenge took place at the Viaplay headquarters in Stockholm, where contestants were either allowed to take one five-minute break per hour or, by saving up their minutes, a longer break at a later time.

The attempt was part of an initiative to launch Viaplay Premiere, which provides viewers with exclusive premieres on the online platform. Rikard Steiber, CEO of Viaplay said: “It’s been great to follow the world record attempt live in the building and on Viaplay, and it’s wonderful that Viaplay’s hero actually pulled it off. Everyone has shown real commitment to the attempt, both externally and internally.’

Visit the Viaplay world record page to view a live stream of the attempt.

Visit the Viaplay website for more information.

South Africa participates at FiSahara human rights film festival

Carly Barnes
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The Western Sahara International Film Festival (FiSahara), which took place from 29 April to 4 May 2014 in the Sahrawi refugee camps in South Western Algeria, included a special tribute to Nelson Mandela as well as film screenings, workshops and a performance by South African musician Jonas Mosa Gwangwa.

Anti-apartheid fighter Andrew Mlangeni attended the festival and compared the plight of 30, 000 refugees, who were exiled from Western Sahara almost four decades ago due to unlawful occupation, with South Africa’s liberation struggle. Mlangeni said: “As in South Africa, cultural activities are an important way of letting the world know about what is happening in Western Sahara.’

The festival hosted over 300 international participants as well as over 30 films from around the world.

This year the first prize, known as a White Camel, was awarded to Legna (Poetry Speaks), a documentary by Juan Ignacio Robles, Bahia Mahmud Awah and Juan Carlos Gimeno. The second prize was awarded to Clint Eastwood’s Invictus and the third prize was awarded to Dirty Wars, a documentary written by David Riker.
In a separate national competition, which judged short films made by Saharawi refugees participating in a newly established refugee camp film school, the first prize was awarded to Arifa, the second prize was awarded to Tears of Hope and the third prize was awarded to My Malady is in my Cure.

Maria Carrion, Executive Director of FiSahara concluded: “FiSahara is a miraculous and magical event and this edition has been a tremendous success. But it is ironic that on the same day that this human rights film festival began here the desert, the human rights of Saharawi’s have once again been ignored by the UN Security Council in New York. This news failed to dampen the spirit. Instead it increased people’s determination and demonstrated just how important events like FiSahara are in raising awareness of this forgotten conflict and the international community’s abject failure to hold Morocco to account for the ongoing human rights abuses occurring in Western Sahara.’

Watch the FiSahara trailer on YouTube.

Visit the FiSahara website for more information.

IBC presents a series of global media events

Carly Barnes
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The International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), an annual event featuring the global creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content, will feature a new series of international events titled: Content Everywhere, which will take place in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Latin America (LATAM). Some of the industry sectors which will be covered at these events are: media production, devices, apps, digital marketing, social media, content personalisation, big data, cloud services, second screens and investment.

The Content Everywhere series will allow professionals in the broadcast industry to network with representatives and exchange ideas with markets experiencing fast growth, which includes the telecommunications, media, online and IT sectors.

Europe

The Europe Content Everywhere event will launch from 12 to 16 September 2014 alongside IBC in Amsterdam, and will deliver expertise on online TV and video platforms, monetisation of digital TV and video content over IP-based networks as well as multi-media content consumption on devices.

MENA

The MENA Content Everywhere event will launch at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, from 18 to 20 November 2014 and will highlight the media sector as a potential sustainable post-petrochemical economy for these regions.

LATAM

The LATAM Content Everywhere event will launch at Sao Paulo in 2015, with dates still to be confirmed. As Rio de Janeiro will be the 2016 Olympic Games host city, there will be a focus on online consumption, mobile apps and second screens in relation to the games.

Visit the Content Everywhere website for more information.

Ugu Film Festival call for submissions

Carly Barnes
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The Ugu Film Festival, which takes place from 21 to 23 September 2014 at a number of venues along the South Coast of South Africa, including: Capenta Bay Hotel, Margate Hotel, Oribi Gorge Hotel, and Wild Coast Sun Casino and Gamalakhe, is seeking film entries.

Though the festival will have a focus on South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region as well as Africa, submissions from all over the world will be accepted. Films of any genre are welcome; however action films, action dramas, thrillers, science fiction features and short films are encouraged.

Submission Deadline
15 May 2014.

Submission Format
Films must only be submitted on DVD and must include: title, screening format, and running time.

Entry Fee
Free, no fee is paid for submission.

Submission Eligibility
All submissions must have been completed after May 2013

Submissions may be posted to:
Ugu Film Festival
Studio 1
Upper Arcade
Spiller’s Wharf
Port Shepstone
4240

Filmmakers who submit a film to the festival will automatically qualify to attend workshops which will be hosted by industry professionals. Three workshops, Action Directing and Stunt Coordination, Producing and Directing, and Special Effects, will feature at the festival with the Action Directing and Stunt Coordinating Workshop being hosted by Hollywood veteran action film director Steven Lambert.

Visit the Ugu Film Festival website for more information or get in touch via email at ugufilmfestival@gmail.com, or mobile +27 71 098 5661

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