ITFFA announces 2021 award winners

Image source: Gallo/Getty

The awards ceremony took place at the Labia Theatre in Gardens, Cape Town.

The German production White Angels of Camargue - Europe’s Last Cowboys, produced by Dennis Schmelz, was elected by the International Jury as the Grand Prix Dox ITFFA 2021. The film presents the beauty of the Camargue delta, a region in the South of France where cowboys and wild white horses live in perfect harmony with the nature that surrounds them.

In the African competition, the commercial Because South Africa, produced by the WWP Group for South African Tourism, was distinguished with the Grand Prix Africa ITFFA 2021. With vibrant images and a strong message, the film reinforces a feeling of unity and hope for a near future when people will be able to experience again all that South Africa has to offer.

In the International competition, Seek Different, produced by KWP! and Zoom Film TV for Tourism Northern Territory, achieved its second consecutive Grand Prix at the CIFFT Circuit, being chosen as the Grand Prix ITFFA 2021. The film, which also won the Diamond Award in The Golden City Gate (ITB) 2021, inspires domestic travellers to experience the region's uniqueness.

Countries including Australia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malawi, Mexico, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, and many more are amongst this year winners.

The two-day ITFFA 2021 festival kicked off with a series of educational Masterclasses at the V&A Waterfront on Thursday, 27 May, facilitated by industry experts and top content creators.

The entries were evaluated by an international jury, which brought together renowned professionals from the audiovisual production, marketing, and tourism fields. As president of the jury, FC Hamman, an award-winning director of cinematography and drone specialist who has worked for the biggest brands in the film and television industry such as Universal, Disney, the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and Netflix, among others.

In addition to the closing ceremony, the festival programme included a master class hosted by FC Hamman, Senzelwe Mthembu, Neo Mokuene and Refiloe Chakela-Gava, dedicated to tourism promotion through video.

James Byrne, co-director of the ITFFA added, "Tourism is a topic that is possibly the best suited for video marketing, as its very essence is about visual storytelling. Our objective for this year, in particular, was to carry a message of hope and encouragement during a time when it is so needed".

Alexander V. Kammel, CIFFT Director, says: "More than 3,500 films compete each year for the title of the World’s Best Tourism Films. African countries are underrepresented. It is time to show that Africa is full of talented men and women to be presented to the global creative community. This is why CIFFT strongly supports the ITFFA initiative."

"Lifetree Marketing & Media and Durban TV were instrumental partners in making this event the success that it was," said both festival directors..

"This event was defined by the people that participated, and we are beyond grateful to have shared in this journey with them, " said Ungersbock.