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Action in Autism Honours Women

Media Release

Action in Autism is honouring all the wonderful moms, grannies, sisters, aunts and caregivers who support people with autism, as well as women with autism themselves, in August.  A non-profit organisation, Action in Autism provides early intervention for 16 children under the age of 6 at their Centre in Sydenham. The organisation also provides a free walk-in resource and support service, a free diagnostic clinic, and regular support group meetings for families of people with autism.

To celebrate Women’s Month, Action in Autism is holding a Mad Hatter High Tea Fundraiser on Saturday 13 Augustfrom 2pm to 5pm at the George Campbell School Hall, 261 Sylvester Ntuli Road. All moms, caregivers, or anyone who would love to support the Centre and people with autism are welcome to attend.  Guests will be serenaded by the beautiful Thuli Zama, with piano accompaniment by Andile Mnikathi. Enjoy mini manis, pedis, and shoulder massages in addition to tea, coffee, cake and sandwiches. Wear a sensational hat to the event and win a prize!

Action in Autism does not receive any funding from government, and welcomes support through cash or kind, or through volunteering . Tickets for the High Tea are R150 and available from the Action in Autism office. The event is free to all single moms of people with autism. For more information about Action in Autism and the support to parents and families provided by the organisation, please call 031 207 4858 or email info@actioninautism.org.za.

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Further information:

Kirsten Miller

ACTION IN AUTISM

031 207 4858/083 7774468

info@actioninautism.org.za

Lebogang Phalula flies solo through Maritzburg SPAR Women’s 10/5km

Lebogang Phalula flies solo through Maritzburg SPAR Women’s 10/5km

Sunday 7 August

Lebogang Phalula (Boxer) flew through the finish line in this morning’s (Sunday 7 August) Maritzburg SPAR Women’s 10/5km in a respectable time of 34.41 – slicing off 1min 29secs off last year’s winning time.

The visibly relaxed athlete, whose only quest was to win the race, said after her run, “I managed to break away from the seeded runners in the first kilometre of the race, and I was pretty much alone from there on. I asked my friend Cornelia (Joubert) to stick with me for this race but she was unable to.”

“This was my first Maritzburg race, and I was not expecting so many hills, which were pretty tough, but I did enjoy it especially from the 8km mark where it was pretty much a downhill stride for me – it felt like I was floating.”

There is much excitement in the Phalula household as her sister, Lebo will be representing South Africa at the Rio Olympics in the Marathon this coming Sunday. For Lebogang, her focus is on the Totalsports 10km Race taking place in Johannesburg on Women’s Day.

Finishing 75 seconds behind Phalulua, Jenet Dlamini, (Umzimkhulu) crossed the line in a time of 35.56 followed by Cornelia Joubert (Boxer) 45 seconds later in 36.41.

Dlamini from Umzimkhulu stated that overall she was happy with her race, “It was a tough run for me having run the Hammarsdale 10km race last week so my legs were a bit tired.”

It was also Joubert’s first experience at the Maritzburg SPAR Women’s race, and although she was unfamiliar with the route, she was aiming for a top five position. “I was pleased with my result and my time even after having rested quite a bit this week as I had pushed myself in the 21.1km SA Champs in PE, where I finished tenth last weekend.”

There were a record number of entries this year of 4039 that competed in ideal running conditions. The capital of KwaZulu-Natal was slightly overcast with a bit of a nip in the air. The youngest runner clocked in at 9 years old and the oldest runner was 73 year old Beryl Trussler who finished in a time of 53.29.

Alexandra High athlete, Thembekile Mthimunye (17) took the honours in the 5km race breezing through in a time of 25.47.

“Well done to everyone who came out to brave the slight chill in the air. It was particularly festive this year, perhaps young and old alike have been inspired by the spirit of the Olympic Games in Rio? Whatever the reason, it was a joy to see so many people coming out in force to participate and have so much fun,” said MD for SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson.

The official race charity CHOC, will receive R8000 donation from the race entries.

Results

10km Open

1 Lebogang Phalula (Boxer) 34.41, 2 Jenet Dlamini (Umzimkhulu) 35.56, 3 Cornelia Houbert (Boxer) 36.41, 4 Jen Challenor (KPMG) 37.01, 5 Makhosi Mhlongo (Savages) 38.08, 6 Anet Coetzee 38.27, 7 Sizisandele Mkhize 39.14, 8 Janene Carey (Boxer) 39.48, 9 Suzette Botha (Eskom) 39.50, 10 Abigail Solms 41.31

15 – 19 years

1 Nosihle Phungula 47.45, 2 Fezeka Hadebe 50.55, 3  Kirsten Ahrens 1.05.18

35 – 39 years

1 Jen Challenor 37.01, 2 Nonsikelelo Mbambo 43.26, 3 Sindiswe Jali 49.39

40 – 49 years

1 Janene Carey 39.48, 2 Suzette Botha 39.50, 3 Xolisile Mwelase 47.04

50 – 59 years

1 Elana Pessenbacher 50.41, 2 Robyn Mellett 53.55, 3 Ntombifikile Mtungwa 57.27

60+ years

1 Sandra Fismer 47.53, 2 Jenny Tauloe 53.06, 3 Barbara Wright 1.10.01

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When JOMBA! and powerful women collide

When JOMBA! and powerful women collide

The JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience – the twelve day exhilarating feast of dance takes place from 24 August to 4 September at the University of KwaZulu Natal Howard College’s Sneddon Theatre and KZNSA Gallery in Glenwood.

This year’s festival hosts dancers and dance companies from Switzerland, Austria, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Reunion Island, France and South Africa. Honouring the long term vision of JOMBA! to shine a light on the African continent and to make artistic connection with the rest of Africa, and in time Women’s Month in August, Jomba! premieres a collaboration between three exceptional African female dance-makers. South Africa’s Desiré Davids, Gabi Saranouffi from Madagascar and Edna Jaime of Mozambique come together to share their vision in a dance piece called “Lady, Lady”, an idea that was conceived when they met and worked together at residences over 2015/16.

Born in Paarl, Desiré graduated from the University of Cape Town School of Dance and is an internationally recognised contemporary dancer and choreographer. She is the co-founder together with Boyzie Cekwana of the Floating Outfit Project which was formed in 1997. The company has received International recognition as one of Africa’s ground breaking and cutting edge performance companies and has toured extensively in Europe, Africa as well as the USA. In 1999 she received the award for “Most Outstanding Female Performer” for her performance in “Rona” which won first prize at the 3rd International African and Indian Ocean Choreography Competition in Madagascar. Desiré’s first appearance on the JOMBA! stage was in 2010 with a premiere of her work titled “Who Is This...Beneath My Skin” on which she collaborated with French photographer Pascale Berouion.

Gaby, the second of the women trio is one of the most prominent female artists in the history of dance in Madagascar. She founded the I'Trôtra festival  which is a platform for the Malagasy art form, becoming a unifying structure of talents and artists of all kinds but also for all people working in the field of performing arts. The last fit of the trio is Maputo based Mozambican Edna Jaime, an independent dancer and choreographer. She began her dance career in 1996 with traditional dance in The House of Culture of Maputo. Her work is a mesmerising mash-up between traditional and contemporary dance.

These artists share, explore and exchange their realities in order to give voice to various commonalities, challenges and images as they move towards a commentary on current issues facing women in the African context. Full of wit, irony and spirited dance this is sure to be a talking point of the festival.

Other dance companies that will feature at Jomba! include France’s Company Ex Nihilo, Mamaza, Swiss company that is winning awards throughout the world, Reunion Island’sSoul City which best known for the innovative ways in which it uses Hip Hop to confluence into contemporary dance. Hip-Hop and the power of the urban dance Bboyz and BGirlz is further highlighted at the festival with the collaboration between Austrian choreographer Daniel Renner and Durban’s inimitable Flatfoot Dance Company.  The acclaimed South African born dancer and choreographer Vincent Mantsoe is also on the line-up with an African premiere of his new solo work titled “KonKoriti”.

Tickets are R60.00 or R45.00 (scholars/students/pensioners) for the Sneddon Theatre and bookings can be done via Computicket (or at venue from one hour before). Tickets for the KZNSA Gallery are R50 (no concessions) and available at venue only – from one hour before the performance.

 For more information and the programme, please go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za and join us on Facebook (JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience) and Twitter (Twitter@Jomba_dance).

 

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CHOC: The official charity of Pietermaritzburg SPAR Women's Race

CHOC: The official charity of Maritzburg SPAR Women’s Race

 

The Pietermaritzburg branch of CHOC, the Childhood Cancer Foundation, is once again the official race charity of the Maritzburg SPAR Women’s 10/5km which take place around Alexandra Park on Sunday, August 7.

Two rand from every entry will go to the foundation, which essentially is a support group of parents with children with cancer who support fellow parents and children with cancer.

“We rely heavily on donations and financial support from the public and other sources so we can provide free board and lodge and other invaluable services to children with cancer and their families,” says Agie Govender, Regional Manager for CHOC KZN. “We are really grateful to everyone who participates in this race for the contribution they are making to this service."

‘We are pleased to be able to support CHOC as they provide an incredible support for parents and children,” says Rob Philipson MD of SPAR KZN. “Thank you to all of you involved in providing this support."

The 10km race is open to entrants 14 years and older and the 5km to 9 years and older. 

Entries are limited to 4,000 and the 10km distance is open from age 14 and to the 5km from age 9, the age restrictions being applicable on the day of the competition. Entry fees are R90 for the 10km licensed athletes and for the 5km runners. The entry fee for the Non-licensed athletes is R100; the extra R10 includes a temporary licence for the day. 

EFT entries have now closed and only Credit Card can be taken online until Saturday 30 July. Thereafter participants can enter at the Oval on Friday 5 (10am to 5pm) and Saturday, 6 August (10am to 3pm).

For more info contact the race organisers on maritzburg@sparwomensrace.co.za or visit the official race on www.sparwomensrace.co.za or like the Facebook page.

 

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Maritzburg SPAR Women’s 10 / 5km Pietermaritzburg: Sunday 7 August

Maritzburg SPAR Women’s 10 / 5km Pietermaritzburg: Sunday 7 August

The running of the Maritzburg leg of South Africa’s Most Beautiful Race will be taking to the roads of the KZN capital on Sunday 7 August for the annual SPAR Women’s 10/5km. 

Settling back into its usual winter date, the race will have a field of green flowing along the roads in and around The Oval where an expected 4,000 athletes will be taking the challenge of the two distances. The event is the biggest women’s athletic event and second biggest annual road running event to take place in the city aside from the Comrades Marathon. 

Both the routes will remain unchanged, with the start line set adjacent to Maritzburg College’s main rugby field, Goldstones, and the finish line in The Oval cricket stadium. 

Both races will start at 8.00am after the playing of the National Anthem. The 10km and 5km participants will set off together with the first half of the race looping around the outskirt of the CBD, with the 5km race turning into The Oval and the 10km athletes doing another loop around the schools’ precinct, before returning back to The Oval. 

A strong field of local runners is expected to compete this year with the defending champ, Tebogo Masehla rumoured to be back. The big names in this year’s SPAR Grand Prix will be flying the South African flag at the Rio Olympics which leaves a win and the R8,000 winner’s purse open to the remaining local contenders. 

Entries are open, with two options to enter. The first is online at www.sparwomensrace.co.za where you can either pay by Credit Card or by EFT. The second option is a Manual Entry at Race Registration on Friday 5 August and Saturday 6 August at The Oval cricket stadium in Alexandra Park. Companies, running clubs and groups of 10 or more can enter through the Bulk Entries option, simply email bulk@sparwomensrace.co.za for more information. 

Entries to the 10km distance are open from age 14 and to the 5km from age 9, the age restrictions being applicable on the day of the competition. Entry fees are R90 for the 10km licensed athletes and for the 5km runners. The entry fee for the Non-licensed athletes is R100; the extra R10 includes a temporary licence for the day. 

Once again the official race charity is CHOC (The Childhood Cancer Foundation) and R2 from every entry will be donated to them.

For more info contact the race organisers on maritzburg@sparwomensrace.co.za or visit the official race on www.sparwomensrace.co.za or like the Facebook page.

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​Audience Choice Awards at the 37th Durban International Film Festival

Audience Choice Awards at the 37th Durban International Film Festival

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced the Audience Choice Awards for the best DIFF film and the top Wavescape film at this year’s festival.

Under the DIFF banner, the film Nakom (Ghana/USA) took the honours. Directed by Kelly Daniela Norris and Trav Pittman, the feature tells a story of a Ghanaian medical student named Iddrisu, played by Jacob Ayanaba, whose life comes to a halt when his father dies unexpectedly. As the eldest son, he is called to return to his family homestead to bury his father, only to discover family tensions between his mother and his father’s 'junior' wife. The film shows a dramatic portrayal of the enduring conflict between the modern and the traditional in which Iddrisu wishes to move forward without betraying his upbringing Nakom has been described as a window into a culture and language rarely shown on screen.

The Icelandic film No Country For Cold Men won the audience choice award in the Wavescape Surf Film Festival at the DIFF. Directed by Ryan Mattick, the film is based on a kneeboarder, bodyboarder and surfer who go on a surf trip to break free of the conflict among their ilk. The film challenges the notion of harmony in a humorous manner while taking a closer look at the surf society. 

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Durban FilmMart Awards 2016

Media Release

Durban FilmMart Awards 2016

 

The Durban FilmMart (DFM), the industry development programme of the Durban Film Office and the Durban International Film Festival, wrapped up  tonight (June 20) with an awards ceremony at the Tsogo Maharani Hotel in Durban, South Africa.

 

“DFM is considered one of Africa’s most important film finance platforms and industry gatherings, and this year around 550 film-makers from around the globe, with a significant representation from Africa, attended the festival for four days of pitching, forums and networking sessions,” says Toni Monty, Head of the Durban Film Office. “Over 600 meetings were held, in a robust and very engaging event this year.”

 

An integral part of the DFM is the finance and co-production forum, which this year had 10 features and nine documentary films selected for intense mentoring and pitch sessions to financiers and distributors, and other industry representatives.

 

Over the years the DFM has developed key relationships with a variety of industry partners that have seen the value of supporting and developing African content for both continental and global markets. These partners have engaged with projects over the four days, and a number of grants and awards were provided to projects with the aim to support their further development.

 

The Awards/Grants:

 

·      The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program award for the documentary film project that demonstrated potential for strong storytelling craft, artistic use of visual language, originality, feasibility, and relevance went to Hatim’s Dream (Uganda - Producer: Nathan Magoola, Director: Matthew Bishanga). This projects receives a cash award of $5000 for further development.

 

·      Afridocs, the broadcast stream that sees African and other international documentaries screened across 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa on a weekly basis, gave a €3000 grant toTestament (Kenya, Producer: Meena Nanji, Directors: Meena Nanji and Zippy Kimundu).

 

·      The CineMart Award, sponsored by the co-production market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, went to the fiction project, Disco Afrika (Madagascar, Producer: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck, Executive Producers: Herizo Rabary and Randriamantsoa, Director: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck) which is given an opportunity to attend the Rotterdam Lab, a five-day training and networking event bringing together producers from all over the world.

 

·      The International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) awarded the most promising documentary project at the DFM, Wizard of Zim (South Africa, Producers: Lesedi Oluko Moche and Carolyn Carew, Director: Samora Sekhukhune) with an opportunity to attend theIDFA Forum, the largest and most influential meeting place for documentary filmmakers, producers, commissioning editors, funds, private financiers and other documentary stakeholders in Europe, in November.

 

·      Produire au Sud of Festival des 3 Continents (Nantes), awarded the fiction film Headland(South Africa, Producer: David Horler, Director: Elan Gamaker) an opportunity to attend its developmental workshop program, PAS, where they will be given tools, expertise, and opportunities to develop European networks.

 

·      The Restless Pitch award, is a one-on-one consultation for the project by Restless Talent Management, who provide development services such as image-building and positioning, project packaging, PR, and advises its clients on film sales, distribution and promotion. This was given to the project On the Bus by Nadine Cloete. Restless Talents also gave a special mention to the project Nama by Kelly-Eve Koopman. 

 

·      Videovision Entertainment awarded the “Best South African Film Project”  to Abnormal Loads (South Africa, Producer: Elias Ribeiro, Cait Panesgrouw. Director: Neil Coppen) a prize valued at R75 000, which guarantees its release once it is completed. The prize includes marketing and distribution support from Videovision Entertainment.

 

·      Versfeld & Associates, publicity consultants will develop publicity material and advise on publicity profiling through the development two projects – The Mango Tree that Danced with Sea Breeze (South Africa/ Kenya, Producer Lunghi Zondi and Philippa Ndisi-Hermann, Director Philippa Ndisi-Hermann) and Inga, Inge (Zimbabwe, Producer Veronique Doumbe, Director Tsitsi Dangarembga).

 

·  Sørfond awarded the project Un Fils (Tunisia, Producer: Habib Attia,Director: Mehdi M. Barsaoui) with an opportunity to pitch at the Sørfond Pitching Forum in Oslo later this year.

 

·      The International Organisation of La Francophonie awarded a grant of 5000 Euro for the Francophone project Disco Afrika (Madagascar, Producer: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck, Executive Producers: Herizo Rabary and Randriamantsoa, Director: Razanajaona Ambinintsoa Luck).

 

“It is through these partnerships that DFM projects are able to develop further along the path to completion, so we would like to thank all our partners for their support,” says Toni Monty. “For independent filmmakers, the mentorship and support given by partners during the DFM, enables them to take their projects to the next level paving the way for the creation of a fully fledged product, which hopefully one day will return for exhibition at the Durban International Film Festival.”

 

For more information about the DFM go to www.durbanfilmmart.com.

 

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Dutch Delegation, Focus and Meetings at the DIFF & DFM

Media Release

Dutch Delegation, Focus and Meetings at the DIFF & DFM

The Durban International Film Festival this year hosts a Dutch focus at this year’s edition with five titles being screened, while the Durban FilmMart, welcomes a delegation from the Netherlands to meet South African film-makers to develop new networks in the country, and promote the treaty, which was signed earlier this year, between the two countries.

 

The Dutch film focus has been curated by Gertan Zuilhof of the Rotterdam Film Festival, in recognition of the Dutch-South African Co-production Treaty. Dutch feature films include the brilliant Schneider vs Bax, a contract-killer film with a difference, Full Contact about a remote drone operator who accidentally bombs a school, 12 Months in One Day which chronicles a bitter-sweet new year’s eve in Amsterdam, Prince, a powerful but nuanced coming-of-age story, and Zurich, which tells the story of Nina, a woman who attempts to lose herself in Europe’s motorways. The Dutch focus is rounded off with three short films that form part of the short film programme.

 

The delegation hosted by the NFVF, includes Frank Peijnenburg- Head of Screen at The Netherlands Film Fund, Laurette Schilling from Topkapi Films, Wilant Boekelman, from Dutch Muntain Movies, and Pieter van Hustee Film, met with South African producers at a brunch, and also presented a panel at the Durban FilmMart on Dutch co-production, funding and incentives.

 

The Netherlands Film Fund is the national agency responsible for supporting film production in the Netherlands and activities such as festivals and training. Its focus is to develop and strengthen Dutch cinema and film culture both domestically and internationally. The Film Fund also oversees the activities of the Netherlands Film Commission.

 

The Netherlands has treaties with Canada, France, Germany, China and South Africa and is now preparing a treaty with Wallonia Brussels Federation of Belgium.

 

“The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) congratulates Netherlands as the country of focus at this year’s edition of DIFF. “ says Head of Marketing & Communications, Peter Kwele. “In line with this and in recognition of the co-production treaty signed between two countries in December 2015, the NFVF have organised a few events involving Dutch filmmakers and their South African counterparts at the festival. These events are a means celebrate the treaty, MOU signed in May 2016 and encourage co-productions between Dutch and South African filmmakers.  “

 

For the full programmes go to www.durbanfilmmart.co.za and www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

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Durban FilmMart 2013 Finance Forum Winner 'Five Fingers for Marseilles' saddles up

Media Release

DURBAN FILMMART 2013 FINANCE FORUM WINNER ‘FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES’ SADDLES UP

Seven years after writer Sean Drummond and director Michael Matthews first set out on an 8000km research and development journey around the country, The Be Phat Motel Film Company and Game 7 Films’ Five Fingers for Marseilles, which was a project at the 2013 Durban FilmMart, is taking its next big step to the big screen.  The film, a contemporary South African thriller modelled on the western and played in Sesotho and isiXhosa, with a top-tier, fully local cast, begins production in the Eastern Cape in July 2016, in association with Stage 5 Films and Above the Clouds. 

Once, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, twenty years after fleeing in disgrace, freedom-fighter-turned-‘outlaw’ Tau (Vuyo Dabula) returns, seeking only peaceful anonymity. Finding the town under vicious new threat, he must choose whether to run again or to reluctantly fight to free it.  Will the Five Fingers stand again?

Dabula heads an ensemble cast featuring Thishiwe Ziqubu, Kenneth Nkosi, Mduduzi Mabaso, Lizwi Vilakazi, Kenneth Fok, Anthony Oseyemi and Dean Fourie, with Jerry Mofokeng.  Cast by Moonyeenn Lee, the film will look to local Eastern Cape communities for a number of youth and supporting roles.

Five Fingers is Be Phat Motel’s first narrative feature, after international documentary and shorts success. Game 7 Films’ Yaron Schwartzman and Asger Hussain’s credits include Academy-Award-winning Precious, The Paperboy, and upcoming true-life crime-story 37.  Stage 5 Films’ credits include Silwerskermfees-winner Hollywood in my Huis, Unearthed, the upcoming The Whale Caller and DIFF opening film The Journeymen. 

The film was awarded DFM Finance Forum’s ‘Best South African Film in Development’ in 2013.  Indigenous Film Distribution will release in South Africa in 2017 and XYZ Films will represent for North American sales.  The film is made possible with the support of the NFVF and the DTI, with additional services from Dupa Films.

Five Fingers for Marseilles will premiere internationally in early 2017.

 

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Sharlene Versfeld
Versfeld & Associates
Public Relations and Communications
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 326 3235
Tel: +27 (0) 31 811 5628
Post: P O Box 30547, Mayville, 4058
Email: sharlene@versfeld.co.za
Twitter: sharlvers
Website: www.versfeld.co.za

Durban's KZNSA Gallery Short Films Hub and Journeymen Exhibition

Media Release

Durban’s KZNSA Gallery Short Films Hub and Journeymen Exhibition

The KZNSA Gallery in Glenwood, Durban will once again be the Short Films Hub for the 37th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). In addition, the gallery will be home to opening night film The Journeymen’s accompanying photographic exhibition entitled Twenty Journeyfrom June 18 to 24.

Twenty Journey is an exhibition that conveys the photographic journey of three South African photographers, the protagonists in the filmThe Journeymen - Sipho Mpongo, Wikus de Wet and Sean Metelerkamp. The trio travelled some 24 000 km around the country for over seven months, speaking to a fascinating array of different people that they came across, capturing images that represented those particular individuals and places. Collectively, these images tell a South African story in a captivating pictorial ensemble, shining a light on the intimate and interwoven nature of the people that make up a nation striving for identity and authentic restoration.

 “In their documentary, the frame is no longer still and installed in white gallery walls. The frame is moving through the mundane, the exciting, the discovered, the racial, the gendered, the rich, the poor, the educated, the illiterate, the intersections and the Journeymen,” says Khanyisile Mbongwa, curator of the Twenty Journey exhibition. “It is a project that, in its conception, questions the very existence of the horizon, set up within the context of a collapsing rainbow nation. It tasked itself to ask democracy questions about “Born-Frees”,“Land” and “Idiosyncrasies”.

Mbongwa is a Cape Town based award-winning curator and performative installation artist. She is the co-founding member of Gugulective, robust and innovative arts collective and co-founder of VASIKI Creative Citizens. Her work has been seen across South Africa, Germany, Spain, Sri Lanka, Scotland and New York among others.

The KZNSA Gallery in 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood, will be the hub for the exhibition and short films that are part of DIFF. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sundays 10am to 3pm. Screenings of the short films are at 6pm and 8pm.

For films in the shorts line-up see the DIFF programme booklet available at the DIFF venues, or the website. www.durbanfilmfest.co.za.

The Durban International Film Festival takes place from 16-26 June 2016. The Festival includes nearly 200 theatrical screenings, as well as the Wavescape Film Festival and various industry initiatives, including the 9th Talents Durban programme (in cooperation with the Berlin Talent Campus) and the 7th Durban FilmMart co-production market (in partnership with the Durban Film Office).

The 37th Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with support from the National Film and Video Foundation, Durban Film Office, eThekwini Municipality, German Embassy, Goethe Institut, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture and a range of other valued partners.

 

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Captions to photo: Stills from the Twenty Journey Exhibition - each photo is labelled with each photographer’s name

Wavescape Film Festival at the Durban International Film Festival

Media Release

Wavescape Film Festival at the Durban International Film Festival

Wavescape has announced a new venue, as well as the lineup of 21 films set for the 11th Wavescape Film Festival at the Durban International Film Festival, which takes place from 16 to 26 June this year.

The Wavecsape Film Festival, which features films about surfing, the ocean and associated adventure sports, opens with the much celebrated Bay of Plenty outdoor screening on Sunday 19 June at 7pm, with indoor screenings taking place Monday to Friday 20 to 24 June at the Rivertown Beerhall (www.facebook.com/rivertownbeerhall).

Wavescape’s Steve Pike, director of the Wavescape Film Festival, said: “we're very excited to have the Beerhall - an awesome creative entertainment space at 102 Prince Alfred Street (Florence Nzama) - for the indoor screenings. These take place as before, with two screenings a night, at 6pm and 8pm.”

“To celebrate the change of venue, we have also teamed up with Poison City Brewing (www.poison.city), who will be selling craft beer at the Beerhall.”

Spike said that they were very happy with the quality and variety of their curated selection this year, which numbers 21 films from every “corner of the planet, and featuring every conceivable cinematic and surfing technique”.

The outdoor screening at the Bay of Plenty on Sunday 19 June includes Searching Sirocco (beautiful skateboard short featuring star Kilian Martin), The Wild (short film shot on 4k Red cameras), Skeleton Bay (short movie shot by Chris Rogers), The Man and the Sea (a Derek Hynd short, going finless at JBay), and the main feature, the John John Florence smash hit View from a Blue Moon.

‘The daily indoor screenings also include a selection of excellent documentaries and short films,” says Pike. “You will see red hot surfing and graceful soul surfing, set to amazing music. You will hear fascinating stories from countries as far afield as Norway, the West Indies, Polynesia, Tahiti, Iceland, Madagascar, Indonesia, Portugal, Ireland and Namibia, and cover every terrain, from frozen wildernesses to desert landscapes to lush tropical seas. “

The beachfront screening is free. Screenings at Rivertown cost R30.

Features

Bjørnøya (Bear Island) (82 min), Psychic Migrations (60 min), The Wave I Ride (60 min), View From A Blue Moon (60 min), Devocean (45 min), Deeper (35 min), The Fisherman’s Son (29 min), The More Things Change (27 min), Exploring Madagascar (25 min), No Country For Cold Men (23 min), No Regrets (20 min)

Shorts

The Sound Of Silence (11 min), Deep Islands (8 min), Lunar (8 min), Searching Sirocco (7 min), The Wild (7 min), Denali (7 min), The Man And The Sea (5 min), Skeleton Bay (5 min), Into The Sunrise (5 min), A Day In The Life Of Slade Prestwich (4 min), Ocean Gravity s(4 min)

Instagram www.instagram.com/WavescapeSA

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WavescapeSA

Twitter www.twitter.com/WavescapeSA

#wavescapefestival

@DIFFest #DIFF2016

More info

https://www.facebook.com/rivertownbeerhall

http://www.wavescapefestival.com

http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

 

Durban SPAR 10km Women’s Challenge - Results

Durban SPAR 10km Women’s Challenge

Sunday June 5

IN one of the most decisive performances in the 27-year history of the race Olympian Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank Running Club) devastated the rest of the field to win today’s Durban leg of the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge in an inaugural course record of 33 minutes 26 seconds in perfect running conditions.

Van Zyl (nee Van Blerk), the 2010 and 2011 winner, set an incredibly fast pace right from the start in Masabalala Yengwa Avenue outside the Growthpoint King’s Park Stadium and had dropped off all her serious challengers including second-placed Cornelia Joubert (34:26) and third-placed Lebo-Diana Phalula (34:39), both of Boxer AC, by the 5km halfway mark.

Running at a steady pace of 3:20 per kilometre for the entire duration of the race Van Zyl proved too fast for her other challengers, Zimbabwean Rutendo Nyahora (34:48), Glenrose Xaba (34:50) and Christine Kalmer (35:05) who all crossed the line virtually together to fill fourth, fifth and sixth places this time around.

Despite her impressive performance, Van Zyl said she would have liked to have posted a faster time except that she was nursing a knee injury as a result of a fall during a training run a couple of weeks ago but had decided to run the race to give her knee a try-out in what has become known in roadrunning circles as “the country’s most beautiful race” led out annually by the traditional vanguard of bikers from Steelwings Club on their shining Harley Davidson motorcycles. 

Van Zyl said after the race that not only had her knee passed the test but that she had also benefitted by gaining some badly needed confidence she could take forward in her preparations for the marathon event she will run at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Unbeaten in the SPAR Grand Prix so far this year, van Zyl said her focus from now on would be exclusively for the Olympic Games Marathon which she raced at the London Olympics four years ago. 

“Winning races gives you confidence,” she said. “But I also get confidence from my training.”

“When I went to the Olympics in London I was quite overwhelmed by the occasion, but I believe this time I will be better prepared as I know what to expect,” she said.

Joubert expressed mixed feelings about her performance today saying: “I came fourth last year and second this year but my time today was slower than last year’s and this a cause for concern."

Phalula, another destined to run the Olympic marathon along with Van Zyl and Christine Kalmer, was also unhappy with her time on the fast, flat course which took in a few kilometres along the scenic Durban beachfront.

“We will all have to be aiming for faster times on the road to Rio,” she said.

Victory in today’s Durban leg of the lucrative SPAR Grand Prix Series came on the back of Van Zyl’s first places in the opening legs of the GP series in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth with two legs yet to come, Pretoria on September 3 and Johannesburg on October 9.

Her effort today earned her R20 000 which she also collected for winning in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

“We were pleased with the new route, and a new look and feel for the Challenge this year at Growthpoint Kings Park Stadium,” said Rob Philipson, MD of SPAR KZN. “It was fantastic having our race so well supported and the energy was really palpable. We are in awe of the athletic prowess of the top runners, but we also applaud the amazing efforts shown by young and old alike – it was amazing to see participants as young as nine years walking together with some that were older than 80!”

There was an entry of 16 074 at the close of registration late on Saturday afternoon with most women opting for the 10km run/ walk and the balance signing up for the 5km fun run/ walk.

KPMG runners dominated the junior age group category led by Simonay Weitsz (36:27), Yandiswa Shange (37:51) and Carina Viljoen (37:56) with Janie Grundling (Boxer) taking the 35-39 years age group category in 35:49, Tanith Maxwell the 40-49 years in 35:39, Ansie Breytenbach the 50-59 in 44:22 and Sandra Fismer the over 60 years in 46:25 which saw the ever-present 60-year-old Blanche Moila coming second in 49:21.

 Results

Open 10km

1 Irvette van Zyl 33:26 (Nedbank), 2 Cornelia Joubert (Boxer) 34:26, 3 Lebo-Diana Phalula (Boxer) 34:39, 4 Rutendo Nyahora (Nedbank) 34:48, 5 Glenrose Xaba 34:50, 6 Christine Kalmer (KPMG) 35:05, 7 Mapaseka Makhanya 35:29, 8 Jenet Dlamini 35:33, 9 Tanith Maxwell 35:39, 10 Janie Grundling 35:49

Female Junior 10km

1 Simonay Weitsz (KPMG) 36:27, 2 Yandiswa Shange (KPMG)  37:51, 3 Carina Viljoen (KPMG)  37:56

Female 35-39

1 Janie Grundling (Boxer) 35:49, 2 Bulelwa Simae (Nedbank) 37:24, 3 Poppy Mlambo (Boxer) 37:32

Female 40-49

1 Tanith Maxwell(Boxer) 35:39, 2 Ulrica Stander(FNB Multisport) 38:04, 3 Janene Carey(Boxer) 39:03

Female 50-59

1 Ansie Breytenbach(Irene) 44:22, 2 Gail Babich (Savages) 47:11, 3 Elize Cilliers 48:12

Female 60+

1 Sandra Fismer (Hilton Harriers) 46:25, 2 Blanche Moila (Savages) 49:21, 3 Sheree Kirsten (Westville) 51:24

-ends

Durban SPAR Women’s 10/km Race

Durban SPAR Women’s 10/km Race

Durban: Sunday 5 June

 The time is drawing near where online entries for South Africa’s most beautiful road race, the 2016 edition of the Durban SPAR Women’s 10/5km, which takes place on Sunday 5 June, are almost closed.

Heading to the middle of the year, you can’t beat the weather in Durban and a lot of emphasis encourages individuals to get out and enjoy this balmy season. On the back of the Discovery East Coast Radio Big Walk comes the next fabulously achievable race, the Durban SPAR Women’s race offering two distances. There are two options -  a 10km challenge and a 5km fun run / walk.

This year, the race has a new route with the entire race taking place on the tarmac, all unnecessary hurdles like pavements have been done away with. The route takes one on a winding tour of Durban’s pristine stadium precinct with the start just beyond Berea Rovers and the finish area under the imposing shadow of Growthpoint Kings Park Stadium.

There are two ways of entering the race, either online via www.sparwomensrace.co.za where one can pay by Credit Card only. This option closes on Saturday 28 May. The second option is Manual Registration where limited entries are available. This can be done at the Race Registration at Berea Rovers from Thursday 2 June until Saturday 4 June. 

At the Race Registration participants can also collect race numbers, the goodie bag, and of course the race t-shirt.

For all race queries visit www.sparwomensrace.co.za or like the Facebook page.

ENDS

Second Annual Smoking Dragon Adrenalin Festival 16 - 18 June 2016

Media Release

Second Annual Smoking Dragon Adrenalin Festival

16 – 18 June 2016

The second thrilling annual Smoking Dragon Adrenalin Festival will take place at the Amphitheatre Backpackers’ Lodge, in the foothills of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park of KwaZulu-Natal from June 16 to 18.

The three-day unique event combines adrenalin-packed festivities with great music in the bo-ho Backpackers’ Lodge overlooking the magnificent Northern Drakensberg mountain range. The festival offers an array of high-octane activities, and chilled relaxed vibes that are suitable for adrenalin-junkies, music-lovers, families with kids and even for the more mellow older festivite wanting to soak in the atmosphere.

This year, the festival coincides with National Youth Day and to pay special tribute, Smoking Dragon has chosen a young schoolboy to represent youth in the arts. DJ Eskay (aka Sakhiwe Khuzwayo) is only 19 and one of SA’s youngest club DJs. Khuzwayo is destined for great things, at 16 he was in the KZN Top 10 in the SA DJing Championships. He has performed for thousands of people at Moses Mabhida Stadium at the Fact Durban Rocks parties, sharing the stage with some of the biggest DJs in the country, including Tira, Black Coffee, C’ndo, Lulo Café and Shimza. His mixes have been played on two of the biggest radio stations in KZN, Ukhozi FM and Gagasi 99.5FM and is a regular feature on their entertainment pages. Eskay is still at school (Roseway Waldorf) and hopes to complete a music degree at UKZN and, of course, keep SA’s dance floors packed.

On Saturday 18 June, the festival will focus on women in music under the theme “Smoking Diva Saturday”. Performances include Nje, the band led by beautiful vocalist, Portia Malunga Rowling, who will perform with bassist Rogan van den Berg, drummer Gary Parker and guitarist Gregan Aherin. Also on the line-up is DJ Lindi Lush, her passion spans from Electro to Progressive and Trance among other genres. Trailmix a dynamic DJ from the UK offering a “Bloody Good Rave” on Saturday, and promises to mash up the dance floor bringing a blend of reggae, dancehall, digital dub, steppas and bass. DJ Nicky B from Kaya FM will also blaze the decks with he unique mix of Latin and African music. Another interesting element will be the collaboration of the Fantastic Cortina Whiplash (a 3-piece all women Rock ‘n Roll band, DJ Spicy M with electro house sounds and upcoming star Nomisupasta with her fusion of traditional Xhosa instruments and commercial drum ‘n bass. Also on the bill is Ann Jangle, briefly back in South Africa, DJ Shakti, DJ Nats and Saarkie.

The music offering includes a range of neo-soul, folk, trance, house music and Afro funk sounds. On the bill of performers are acoustic guitarist and singer Gavin Ferguson, Rubber Duc whose quirky sound has been described as “ flock-swing-hop”, Durban-based soul music artist Chico Muya, 7th Son who joins the pack to add rock and reggae sounds from Cape Town and local Mbaqanga artist Inkonjane no Bheseni. The Johanesburg based multi-award nominee MXO will add his afro-soul sounds in the line-up.The Lovestains from Johannesburg, Held On Till May, Raygun Royale, Boxer, Kings Down South and The Black Cat Bones promise to add in an eclectic mix of mood sounds to the weekend. To accommodate everyone at night, DJs will play in a private electronic dance music area far from the family camping site.

In between the music performances, festival-goers can enjoy numerous activities such as tandem skydiving (from the festival grounds), bag jumping (like a jumping castle for grown-ups), paragliding, abseiling, mountain biking, trail running, micro lighting, quad biking, off-road Segway, Downhill Scooting, canopy touring, paintball, hiking (to the highest waterfall in Africa), kloofing, white water rafting, bass and fly fishing or hot air ballooning. Most of these Adrenalin activities are charged separately and can be booked through the Smoking DragonWebsite. All service providers adhere to all safety and regulatory procedures. 

Accommodation is available in the many BnB’s and hotels nearby which Smoking Dragon organises on your behalf. There will be no entry fee charged to people staying at Amphitheatre Backpackers Lodge, either camping or in their rooms. The lodge is child friendly and the festival has a dedicated kids zone with its own programme of child-centred activities and babysitters are available at night, this service must be pre-booked. There will be interesting food vendors, clean toilets, showers and full bar services. 

The festival starts on Thursday, June 16 and runs until Saturday, June 18. Those staying outside of Amphitheatre Backpackers will pay a levy of R50 per day or R135 for a 3-day pass. These will be limited. Kids under 12 staying off-site do not pay for a Day Pass but the “Kid’s Zone” will cost R70 per child per day and needs to be pre-booked. All arrangements for the festival are done through www.smokingdragon.org questions can be emailed to ilsa@smokingdragon.co.za or call 0825512495 Bookings at Amphitheatre Backpackers Lodge are done through www.amphibackpackers.com questions can be emailed to amphibackpackers@worldonline.co.za or call 076 8227508.

-ends.

GG Alcock to present Masterclass at DFM 2016

 PRESS RELEASE

GG ALCOCK TO PRESENT MASTERCLASS AT DFM 2016

South African author and entrepreneur, GG Alcock, will present an unusual Masterclass at this year’s edition of Durban FilmMart, which takes place from June 17 to 20 during the Durban International Film Festival. Under the banner of "Authenticity is Key – Building Credibility with Audiences”, Alcock will talk about the vital necessity of engaging with an audience on their own terms through an authentic understanding of local narratives.

The author of Third World Child and Kasinomics (which explores the economics of South Africa’s townships, or ‘lokasies’), Alcock is uniquely placed to talk about accessing local audiences. Having grown up in Zulu culture, he is keenly aware how easy it is for external narratives to be imposed unsuccessfully on indigenous cultures. Alcock has been a shebeen owner, a political activist, a community worker, and an African adventurer, and runs a successful communications company - Minanawe Marketing. Born in Zululand and raised in the heart of rural Msinga area of Kwazulu-Natal in the local Zulu community Alcock is fluent in isiZulu and still has a deep physical and spiritual connection with his home village where his mother still lives.

As the founder of Minanawe Marketing, he has built an impressive reputation as a creative and strategist – his upbringing having given him the ability to unearth unique insights and apply these to marketing solutions in the African context. Given how important it is to establish an authentic narrative and convincing context when delivering a message, Alcock says that “these lessons can have just as much relevance for filmmakers looking to engage local audiences as for those wishing to sell products.”

 

“I think it’s important to note up front that I am not a filmmaker. What I am able to share, however, is an understanding of audiences, particularly in the mass market, townships and rural areas.” His business specialises in developing themes, concepts and marketing campaigns that have a strong connection with the cultures and identities of these audiences. At the DFM he will be discussing some simple – but often ignored – rules, which he applies when communicating with audiences, and illustrating them with case studies.  While these case studies are located in marketing rather than in filmmaking, the value of his research extends to anyone who is trying to tell African stories. “I think the fact that marketers are often able to access audiences successfully indicates the importance of these lessons,” says Alcock.

Alcock plans to use some of the cultural and business case studies from Kasinomics to explore concepts that are seldom discussed outside of predominately verbal cultures. Core lessons and themes that filmmakers will be able to take away include an understanding of the role of culture and how audiences tend to “modernise rather than westernise”, the ways in which visual and verbal language can be misinterpreted, and the importance of the spiritual and intangible in touching the emotions of an audience. Alcock will also explore the power and significance of social networks and viral communication in a non-online world.

Ahead of DFM, Alcock together with Feyi Olubodun, COO of Insight Nigeria have been invited to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to present a session entitled “The African Consumer, Let My Enemy Live Long” on June 18.

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This unique addition to DFM’s packed roster, which will be presented on June 20, is sure to be both entertaining and eye-opening, and will no doubt inspire new ways of thinking about local audiences.

 

To register for DFM and to find out more about the delegate registration process, visit the official website at www.durbanfilmmart.com.  An Early Bird registration discount for the 4-day event is available to delegates who book before 30 May at a cost of R1 485, which includes access to allocated sessions, a daily luncheon, DFM networking events, entrance into festival screenings (subject to ticket availability), listing in the DFM Industry Manual, and access to Masterclasses and the Africa in Focus programme. After 30 May 2016, the cost is R2035. Daily passes to the event cost R605. (This does not include tickets to the DIFF screenings or access into the opening and closing events.)

 

Ends                                                                      

 

Note to Editors:

The Durban FilmMart (DFM) is a co-production and finance market and is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). DFM provides filmmakers from across Africa with a valuable opportunity to pitch projects to financiers, distributors, sales agents and potential co-producers, and to participate in meetings, project presentations and a series of master classes and workshops on the latest industry trends. www.durbanfilmmart.co.za

 

The Durban Film Office (DFO) is the film industry development arm of the eThekwini Municipality, mandated to position Durban as a world-class film production destination and facilitator for the development of the local film industry. The DFO drives activity and development in the sector in order to boost tourism, job creation and the development of core skills and SMMEs in the region. www.durbanfilmoffice.co.za.

 

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) presents over 200 screenings from different countries and cultures with a special focus on Africa. The festival includes development programmes such as Talents Durban and a rich schedule of workshops. DIFF is a flagship project of the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, which facilitates creative platforms and economic opportunities for artists and related industries, intercultural exchange and network development, training, audience development and strategic Pan-African and international cooperation in the cultural sectors. www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

Flatfoot Dance Company presents Homeland - 6 - 10 April

 

FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY presents HOMELAND

6 – 10 April 2016

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre

Durban’s FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY, offers a new season of dance work from the 6 - 10 April 2016 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Provocatively titled Homeland, this season sees long-time friends and dance making colleagues Lliane Loots and Sbonakaliso Ndaba join choreographic forces once again. These two formidable award-winning South African choreographers last worked together in 2005 on a dance work poetically titled Side by Side for the Playhouse Women’s Arts Festival.

Homeland offers two works separated by a short interval. Both Loots and Ndaba have chosen to work on the evocative title of Homeland and given the recent xenophobic attacks, the continued rise of racism on social media, and the huge increasing levels of gender violence, both choreographers begin to look into the meaning of home. Interestingly enough, and despite the painful political and social backdrop of current South Africa, both choreographers have moved into the deeply personal and deeply interior landscapes of “homeland”. The work is strangely gentle, strangely feminine and very very beautiful; it is as if these two women artist have fought against the violence and terror inherent in the contemporary body and found another language to speak truth to power.

The first work is crafted by Sbonakaliso Ndaba and is a powerhouse of African contemporary dance rhythms that sees Ndaba’s indomitable style of energy and declaration take root with the 6 resident FLATFOOT dancers. Ndaba says, “Homeland for me speaks about where I come from, where my umbilical cord lies, where I speak my mother tongue with pride and no fear of shame. Homeland is where my great great grandmothers fought wars so that I can walk, speak and dance in freedom. Homeland is loving my own brown skin and waking up each morning to see another day despite so much.”

The second work sees Loots collaborate with the 6 FLATFOOT dancers on a work that looks at Homeland from the pain of the global refugee crisis that sees millions of people forced to leave or evacuated their homes due to war and political, social or natural disasters. With 2014 UN figures siting that a new refugee or an internally displaced person is created every 5 seconds somewhere on the planet, Loots and the dancers respond to false notion of belonging to a nation state and of feeling safe at ‘home’. With a deep resonance towards the pain of South Africa’s own xenophobia and continued racism, Loots’ Homeland begins to claims back the internal safety of a resistant (dancing!) self that seeks community in other ways; ways that talk back. Powerful and feisty work that, in Loots’s resolute dance making style, is sure to be controversial.

Artistic director of FLATFOOT, Loots says; “Sbo is like family to me, a sister, and so the chance to sit in a rehearsal space and work with her again feels like an enormous artistic and personal gift. We work very differently and make very different work aesthetically and I love this – I am pushed and forced to re-evaluate what I create”. Guest choreographer to FLATFOOT, Ndaba says, “coming back to Durban and to FLATFOOT is like a home-coming to me. This is one of the first company’s I created work with as a young independent choreographer and I am very excited to be invited back. The FLATFOOT studio still has my ancestors and so I am going to greet them again and work with some familiar and wonderful Durban dancers”.

Loots has, once again, collaborated with Karen Logan for filmic images and installations which further layer her Homeland, and Wesley Maherry has designed the lighting for both works.

FLATFOOT dancers for this season are, Jabu Siphika, Zinhle Nzama, Kirsty Ndawo, Kim McCusker, Sifiso Khumalo, Tshediso Kabulu and Sanele Maphumulo.

The Thursday 7th April 7.30pm show offers a rare treat for dance audiences when arts journalist, Adrienne Sichel (The Ar(t)chive, Wits School of Arts) hosts a special on stage after performance discussion with both choreographers and members of the dance company. This is a chance to get up close and personal with the dance makers and ask questions.

Performances are on 6, 7, 8  and 9 April at 7.30pm and on 10 April at 3pm at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Ticket prices are R85 and R65 for (student, pensioner and group booking of more than 10 tickets)

Booking is through Computicket.

 

Partnerships at this year's Time of the Writer Festival

Time of the Writer

14-19 March 2016

Partnerships

The 19th edition of the Time of the Writer festival is presented by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) in partnership with various organisations this year.

The eThekwini Municipality Libraries department has partnered with the Centre for Creative Arts, in supporting the community engagement programme of the festival in which a series of events entitled Conversations that Matter will take place in public libraries around the City. The City will also be purchasing two copies of each book by each writer featured at the festival which will be distributed to 92 eThekwini Municipal Libraries. The festival together with eThekwini Municipality has organised a park and ride shuttle service to the various venues. The shuttle will pick up passengers from Durban Centrum Park where you will be able to securely park your car, from Tuesday through to Saturday at both 10:00 and 17:30 each day.

The Festival has also partnered with the Etisalat Prize for Literature, the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first time writers of published fiction books. Etisalat, will bring three shortlisted writers for a reading at the Time of the Festival as well as donation of 1000 books to one of the City’s local libraries.

Independent news agency The Daily Vox will be live streaming the festival and providing a platform for online engagement from audiences.

This year’s Festival Book Drive received support from Independent Newspapers and Gcina Mhlophe’s Nozincwadi: Mother of Books Project, which promotes a culture of reading throughout the country. Through this partnership a rural school will be awarded books collected at events hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts.

Time of the Writer has partnered with the KZN Music Imbizo to present Notes on Music. Each evening a different musician will take to the stage before the nightly panel, to perform a new piece of music based on the artist’s interpretation of the festival participants’ written work. There will also be a short discussion facilitated by Salim Washington (UKZN) and Sphephelo Mbhele (KZN Music Imbizo), with the artist providing some insight into what went into composing that piece of music.

All events are FREE to library or student cardholders. For members of the public without either card, a nominal fee of R20 will be requested at the box office one hour before the event. The eThekwini Municipal Libraries along with The Centre for Creative Arts will be on hand at each venue in order to aid those without library cards to sign up for one on the spot, all that it requires is a valid ID document and proof of residence.

For more details on this years' Time of the Writer, visit www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or call (031) 260 2506

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University KwaZulu-Natal), the 19th Time of the Writer is supported by the City of Durban, the National Department of Arts and Culture, The Goethe-Institut and Alliance Française de Durban. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

 

-ends

 

19th Time of the Writer 14 - 19 March 2016

19th Time of the Writer

14 - 19 March 2016

The Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) is proud to announce a change in venues and a special programme for the 19th Time of The Writer, which takes place from 14 to 19 March in Durban, under the theme Decolonising the Book.

A nationwide conversation on inclusiveness in the South African literature landscape began at the 2015 edition of Time of the Writer, sparked off by South African writer Thando Mgqolozana. In order to provide a platform for conversation and debate on this issue, this year’s edition of the festival will gather the leading voices from every facet of literature in the areas of writing, editing, publishing, translation, marketing, bookselling and promotion (including events), to deliberate on the salient issues pertinent to the transformation and growth of literature in South Africa. This theme aims to interrogate the central question of how to go about decolonising literature in South Africa, from writing to readership.

Conversations that Matter is a daytime programme of roundtable discussions, led by experts across the various fields of literature, that provides a space for people to share and contribute towards this vital topic. The nightly evening panels will then feature a summative discussion on the day’s deliberations.

The 19th edition of the festival is presented in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality Libraries department in whose libraries the day programme will take place.

This year’s edition of the festival features a shift in venue for the evening panels as each day the festival will take place in a different location across the surrounding areas of Durban; venues are located in Clermont, Cato Manor, Umlazi, Inanda and KwaMashu.

“We are very excited about the plans for this year’s festival, which came about as a result of a growing call from within the literary world and South Africa as whole for increased diversity, access and inclusiveness. The Centre for Creative Arts would like to acknowledge one of South Africa’s leading writers Thando Mgqolozana who has been very vocal about change in our society and has assisted in the programming of this edition of the festival,” says Tiny Mungwe, festival manager at the Centre for Creative Arts. “The change is very big for us and by breaking from years of tradition we will have another set of operational challenges, but it is something we believe is absolutely crucial for the festival and for the face of literature in South Africa if we are to effect some kind of shift in our thinking.”

The line-up of writers and venues will be announced in a few weeks time.

All events FREE to library or student cardholders. For members of the public without either card, a nominal fee of R20 will be requested at the door one hour before the event.

For more details about this years' Time of the Writer, visit the festival web page or call (031) 260 2506

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University KwaZulu-Natal), the 19th Time of the Writer is supported by the City of Durban, the National Department of Arts and Culture, The Goethe-Institut and Alliance Francaise Durban. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

 

Action in Autism/SAPS invites members of the public to "Protection and Support for People with Autism" engagement

Media Release

Action in Autism/SAPS invites members of the public to “Protection and Support for People with Autism” engagement

Action in Autism, together with the South African Police Service are inviting members of the public to a meeting that will take place on Saturday 14 November 2015 from 2pm to 4pm at the St Augustine’s School Hall, John Zikhali Road (next to the Botanical Gardens). This will be a dialogue/engagement session on the Protection and Safety of People with Autism.

People with autism and related communication disorders are vulnerable to abuse, and to becoming victims of bullying and crime. An added danger is that, in an unpredictable situation in which autistic people have little control and high anxiety, a flight and fright response can result.  Many people with autism run away in a situation perceived as threatening or unpredictable.   This is especially dangerous when police are not skilled on how to support people with communication difficulties and can even be life threatening.

The South African Police Service has asked for input from disability organisations on their Disability Action Plan. Invited guest speaker Major Lekganyane who heads Disability Services in the SAPS National Office will address their next Support Group Meeting regarding provision of police services to people with autism. All who are concerned with the protection and safety of people with autism are welcome to attend.

For further information or to RSVP for this Support Group Meeting, please call 031 207 4858, or email info@actioninautism.org.za.

Action in Autism does not receive any funding from government, if you would like to support the organization through cash or kind or through volunteering your time, we would be most thankful. For more information about Action in Autism and the support to parents and families provided by the organisation, please call 031 207 4858 or email info@actioninautism.org.za.

Ends.

 

Further information:

Kirsten Miller

ACTION IN AUTISM

031 207 4858/083 7774468

info@actioninautism.org.za