Technology Business

The award-winning South African film "Bunny Chow’ had its Kwa Zulu Natal premiere at the Kwa Mashu Film Festival on Friday, 8 December. Director John Barker and three of the movie's stars, David Kibuuka, Joey Rasdien and Kagiso Lediga attended the screening.

Middle Eastern broadcast markets are growing in importance in the broadcast and media technology industry and are now the third most active regional market, behind Europe and North America, according to the latest quarterly IABM Industry Trends analysis. This is up from fifth place in the first quarter survey overtaking Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe.

China has reversed a 2004 ruling which allowed international companies to take minority stakes in local production houses. The Financial Times reports that Chinese authorities have banned any new foreign investment in television and film companies.

Advances in mobile technologies and increasing public expectations mean that the "consumer is king’ in the content on demand marketplace, according to a new survey...

The UK Film Council announced on Tuesday, 5 December that Colin Brown has been appointed British Film Commissioner.

The nominees for the annual Independent Spirit Awards (the "Oscars' for the international "indie' film industry) were announced last week.

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz won the Best Actress Award at the European Film Acadmey European Film Awards held in Warsaw, Poland on 2 December, for her role in Pedro Almadovar’s Volver. Almodovar won the Best Director award for the same film, which was the People’s Choice winner.

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced that it will co-present, with the South African Embassy in Iran, the 1st South African Film Festival in Tehran, from 4 to 7 December 2006.

We bring to the attention of our readers, the following call for assistance from BusinessFilm Productions in Paris, France, who had $1.5m worth of HD camera gear, decks, and lenses stolen at the end of June 2006 by a group of criminals posing as clients. The theft took place in Paris, at the Orly airport.

In response to the call from Cape Town agencies for stronger animation requirements, Masters and Savant has opened up shop in Cape Town to meet these increasing needs