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Carly Barnes

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World-class cinema experience in SA

Carly Barnes
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By the end of November 2013 all 149 of the projectors at South African cinema chain Nu Metro will be 100% digital. This means that moviegoers will get the latest world-class sound and visual experience as provided by Nu Metro’s Belgium equipment partners Barco.

Global technology company Barco has also offered the cinema chain the use of three 3D sound systems as part of this digital conversion. These systems, called Auro, are three of only 150 in the world, giving viewers a brilliant, immersive sound experience.

Auro is due for installation at the Nu Metro complexes in Hyde Park, Johannesburg; Pavilion in Durban; and at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town in January 2014.

As part of this roll-out process, Nu Metro is installing 50 other 3D screens with RealD 3D technology to its circuit nationwide.

In addition to all these upgrades, Nu Metro has launched a new VIP cinema concept called Scene, which is described as a “new supreme luxury cinema and lounge’, available to audiences now.

Selected cinemas have been refurbished with luxurious fully reclining leather chairs to watch movies in ultimate comfort.

Scene also has its own exclusive lounge to enjoy drinks and light meals as well as freshly prepared gourmet sandwiches, burger platters and desserts.

“Nu Metro Cinemas is a progressive cinema business with a true focus on delivering a premium entertainment experience. We will continue to innovate our offering so that South Africans get the world-class cinema offering they deserve,’ says Luke Roberts, general manager of Nu Metro Cinemas.

“Our VIP offering, Scene, is the first of its kind in South Africa and a concept that has worked extremely well overseas,’ he concludes.

SA actor to play Mandela in new film

Carly Barnes
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South African actor Tumisho Masha (Isidingo, Drum) has been cast as Nelson Mandela in the upcoming film, Mandela’s Gun (a hybrid between a documentary and feature film), which is expected to screen at the Cannes International Film Festival in May 2014.

British filmmaker John Irvin is directing and producing the movie in collaboration with DV8 Films in Johannesburg and the Department of Arts and Culture.

The movie, a combination of a documentary and a feature film, will feature an all-South African cast and crew and will include unseen interviews, rare archives and testimonies while using different cinematic styles and techniques to highlight its periodic relevance.

Based on the eight months Mandela spent travelling Africa prior to his arrest in 1962, the story follows his military training which was later used to found uMkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress.

During this time, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie gave Mandela a Makarov pistol, which he buried at Lilliesleaf Farm in Rivonia and which subsequently went missing.

Filming for Mandela’s Gun is set to commence in November 2013.

NFVF hosts 4th National Film Indaba in SA

Carly Barnes
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On 14 and 15 November, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) will host the 4th National Film Indaba at Emperors Palace Conference Centre in Johannesburg.

The aim of the Indaba is to bring together key film industry stakeholders to help draft the industry’s response to the National Development Plan and the Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage.

NFVF council chairperson Mmabatho Ramagoshi will open the Indaba, followed by Paul Mashatile, Minister of Arts and Culture, who will deliver the keynote address.

“The South African government recognises the important role played by the film sector in nation building, promoting social cohesion, reconciliation and supporting economic growth and job creation. We can only strengthen the sector by all of us working together to find the best solutions for us, ones that will allow the South African film industry to reach even great heights,” said Mashatile ahead of the conference.

Held every four years, the Indaba seeks industry input on the state and direction of the film industry. It will be attended by governments departments, such as
Arts and Culture, Communications, Trade and Industry as well as other provincial and local government representatives, film industry representatives, broadcasters and private funders who will also form part of the delegation.

“The NFVF has engaged with various stakeholders in intense consultation processes on our journey towards a national strategy for the film and audio-visual sector. These consultations have been enriched by a number of research surveys and market reviews,’ said NFVF CEO Zama Mkosi.

“We are now seeking industry input into the way forward. Our discussions here, as well as the written input we may receive afterwards, will help articulate the policy going forward and inform our response to the new policy environment we operate in,’ she added.

The Indaba comes at a time when the industry is experiencing a boom with a number of local films such as Khumba; Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; Nothing for Mahala; Elelwani; Felix; Musiek vir die Agtergrond (Background Music); Of Good Report; Bakgat! 3; and Vehicle 19 in the market. Some of these films were funded by the NFVF.

Discussions at the Film Indaba will focus on four key strategic issues: Transformation and Human Capital Development; Infrastructural Development; Funding and Institutional Models; and Markets for South African Content.

“These topics will provide the industry’s contribution towards strategic pillars that have been identified in various government policy documents including the NDP, Mzansi Golden Economy and the draft White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage,’ said Aifheli Makhwanya, NFVF head of Policy and Research and acting head of Marketing and Communication.

“South Africa is also on the verge of digital terrestrial broadcasting rollout where there are a lot of opportunities envisaged for content creators. To this end, we need to know how the industry needs to position itself within this new era and what role the NFVF and other government or private institutions can play to best support the film industry.

“In addition, we are asking how the film industry can attract additional public and private sector investment and expand the infrastructure base for the film and audio-visual industry,’ concluded Makhwanya.

The NFVF welcomes written submissions on the strategy.

To view the 4th National Film Indaba discussion guide, click on http://nfvf.co.za/sites/default/files/indaba_discussion_guide.pdf.

Gosa resigns from SABC board

Carly Barnes
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Noluthando Gosa has resigned from the board of the SABC according to a statement issued by the presidency on Monday 11 November.

Spokesman Mac Maharaj said: “President Zuma thanked Ms Gosa for her contribution to taking forward the work of the public broadcaster over a period of time.

“Ms Gosa also thanked the president for the opportunity to serve the country as board member and wished the board all the best going forward.’

Maharaj added that Zuma had informed the national assembly of Gosa’s resignation and requested the initiation of the process to fill the vacancy.

Revitalising Africa’s lost content

Carly Barnes
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Cote Ouest, Africa’s leader in the distribution of content, announces a special partnership with L’Organisation de la Francophonie (OIF), which will see the two parties collaborate in a major operation aimed at reviving more than 3,000 audiovisual programmes.

As part of the project, these documentaries and archive content, which were originally backed by the OIF Film Fund and constitute an important part of the African cultural heritage, will be fully digitalised. The project’s goal is “to select the finest gems, to retrace the identity of the rights’ holders, and to ultimately distribute and promote the content’.

The project will cover 20 African countries and is set to take place over three years – from 2014 to 2016. Cote Ouest will be responsible for the marketing, distribution and rights management of the newly digitised archives.

Mike Dearham, senior vice president of Cote Ouest, commented: “In the face of a serious African content deficit, the advancement of this project will provide much-needed relief to the pan-African audiovisual sector. This project is incredibly important for Africa as it will revitalise and preserve the memories and history of the continent.’

Managed by OIF, the project involves several partners such as Conseil International des Radios et Televisions d’Expression Française (CIRTEF); Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, France (INA); Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest-Africaine (UEMOA); Institut Imagine, Burkina Faso; and Soon, Senegal.

Pierre Barrot, programme specialist in charge of audiovisual, OIF, said: “The supply of hundreds of hours of archived content, that will come about as a result of this project, in addition to the current production of African TV series and documentaries will stimulate the demand from TV channels for African content. This will also encourage production.’

Splitbeam inherits Prosound lighting stock

Carly Barnes
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South African-based rental companies, Prosound and Gearhouse Splitbeam (Pty) Ltd have successfully worked together on many major international and local touring productions where Splitbeam has skilfully managed the specialist lighting and Prosound the specialist audio.

Splitbeam’s primary focus is on lighting for theatre productions and its services have quickly gained traction in the theatre rental market since the company’s launch in February 2010.

This successful history prompted mutual agreements to sell Prosound’s lighting stock to Splitbeam allowing Prosound to focus on their core strengths.

“It made sense to move our lighting stock to Splitbeam in order to continue the obvious synergy between the two companies,’ says Mark Malherbe, Prosound technical director.

Splitbeam director, Alistair Kilbee is enthusiastic about the possibilities this new stock offers his company. “We have taken delivery of a substantial amount of ETC desks of all sizes – from 12 channels to 8,000 channels. We now have over 400 channels of ETC SmartPack dimming and have almost doubled our ETC source 4 stock, which gives us the largest rental stock holding of ETC Source 4 in the country.’

This additional stockholding means that Splitbeam is now easily able to service two large-scale musicals as well as many smaller shows simultaneously, without compromising stock availability for last-minute dry hire requests. Their acquisition of both the popular ETC EOS and ION theatre desks offers lighting designers their console of choice.

Adds Kilbee: “We also now have 10 to 15 smaller desks which are ideal for small theatre shows, festivals and school productions. This was an area in our stockholding that was not as comprehensive as I would have liked in the past, but now we can service clients of any size and any budget, even better than before.

The sale of the Prosound lighting stock to Splitbeam was a logical choice and we look forward to the two companies continuing to work together into the future.’

Communications solutions in the Philippines

Carly Barnes
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SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) and its partners in emergency.lu announce that the emergency.lu communication service is being deployed in the Philippines following the devastating Typhoon Haiyan. Haiyan – one of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall – swept through six central Philippine islands on Friday, 8 November.

The typhoon claimed thousands of casualties and wrecked up to 80% of structures in its path. Re-establishing communications links is vital to support the humanitarian relief efforts that are being deployed.

As a result, three Rapid Deployment Kits from emergency.lu are being dispatched to the Philippines to provide vital connectivity for the ongoing humanitarian operations. The emergency.lu terminals use dedicated SES satellite capacity to re-establish vital communications links in order to improve the effectiveness of rapid response efforts.

Emergency.lu is a rapid communications solution for global disaster relief and humanitarian missions, developed and implemented as a public-private partnership by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg in collaboration with a consortium of Luxembourg companies and organisations: SES TechCom, Hitec and Luxembourg Air Rescue.

It is designed to help the humanitarian and civil protection community in the field to (re-) establish telecommunication services and support effective communication and coordination of first responders. Emergency.lu can be deployed anywhere in the world within hours of a natural catastrophe or man-made crisis.

The emergency.lu solution consists of satellite infrastructure and capacity, communication and coordination services, and satellite ground terminals as well as transportation of equipment to disaster areas all over the world.

Mandela film’s star receives Humanitarian Award

Carly Barnes
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On Sunday 10 November, British actor Idris Elba, who plays Nelson Mandela in the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, received the Humanitarian Award at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Britannia Awards in Los Angeles.
The award, presented by Mandela’s daughter Zindzi and award-winning actor Sean Penn, honours outstanding individuals who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of entertainment arts.

Representing Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, the movie’s director Justin Chadwick, lead actress Naomie Harris (who portrays Winnie Mandela in the movie) and South African producer Anant Singh and his wife were in attendance.

Singh congratulated Elba by saying: “He is committed to leveraging the profile that he has developed in the film and television industry to be used as a tool in his work among disadvantaged youth. As a recipient of support of the London-based Prince’s Trust himself, Idris continues to work with the Trust to uplift disadvantaged youth. It is also fitting that the criteria for the Humanitarian Award mirrors Nelson Mandela’s own humanitarian goals.’

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom releases nationwide in South Africa on 28 November 2013 through UIP.
View the trailer at http://www.screenafrica.com/page/industry-interviews/1634572-Mandela-Long-Walk-to-Freedom.

Idols Top 4 feel the heat

Carly Barnes
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On Sunday 10 November, the Top 4 Idols Season 9 singers contended for audience votes by performing two individual songs and two duets at the Moreleta Park Church Auditorium in Pretoria.

Though contestants could sing songs from any era for their duets, songs in the first round were themed on musical legends who died before their time and round two performances were based on musical hits during October 2013.

Zoe Zana opened the show with Michael Jackson’s Rock with You followed by Miley Cyrus’ hit song Wrecking Ball.

A Song for You by the late jazz-and-blues vocalist Donny Hathaway was Sonke Mazibuko’s first song, after which he sang Celine Dion’s Love Me Back to Life.

Musa Sukwene sang Redemption Song by music legend Bob Marley and India Arie’s hit Thy Will Be Done.

Brenden Ledwaba also performed a Bob Marley song, Could You Be Loved, followed by John Legend’s latest hit, All of Me.

Duets featured Zoe and Sonke singing When I First Saw You (from the musical Dreamgirls) and Musa and Brenden performing R. Kelly and Usher’s Same Girl.
Voting closes on Monday, 11 November, at 22h00.

Watch Idols on M-Net and Mzansi Magic on Sundays at 17h30 and Tuesdays at 19h30 in the build-up to the big finale on Tuesday, 26 November.

Visit www.mnet.co.za/Idols for more information.

Open air film screenings in Cape Town

Carly Barnes
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During the summer months, Cape Town-based Galileo Open Air Cinema will screen classic films on Tuesdays at the Hillcrest Quarry, on Wednesdays at Kirstenbosch Gardens, and on Thursdays at the V&A Waterfront.

Films are projected on a large blow-up screen and offer a line-up of 25 movies at each venue during the screening period.

Visitors can bring picnic baskets, blankets and cushions and rent backrests for R20 on the night or for R18 when booked in advance with the Comfy Ticket option (while stocks last).

Visit http://www.thegalileo.co.za/ for more information.

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