Line-up for shnit International Shortfilmfestival announced

South African writer, director and producer Gavin Hood will be this year's South African jury president. Hood has a CV including A-list films Rendition, X-men Origins: Wolverine and Ender's Game, and the Oscar-winning Tsotsi.

shnit 2014 promises one of the most diverse and impressive festival line-ups yet. At its core is the shnit open International Competition, which features 64 short films over 10 screening sessions, selected from 7102 entries and 136 countries. An international jury will award shnit's Flaming Faun trophy and cash awards of $20,000 in five categories.

Made in South Africa - SA Competition Category

Equally important in Cape Town is the Made in South Africa Jury Award category. The battle for space on an extremely limited programme was incredibly hard fought, with an international selection panel selecting just nine films into SA competition this year. The line-up includes fiction, documentary and animation and will screen over two programme blocks as a festival highlight in both Cape Town and Stellenbosch.

The full film line-up is:

• Security (15min). Directed by Mark Middlewick. Produced by Kyle Ambrose & Delon Bakker. A drama about a lonely security guard, working the graveyard shift in a colossal Joburg shopping mall, who finds solace in a storefront mannequin.

• The Road Warrior (29min). Directed by Brian Mitchell Jr. Produced by Vuks Ngcingwana. At a time when prejudice between the races was at an all-time high, a black and a white boxer from poverty-stricken backgrounds set out to capture the World Super-Feather Weight Boxing Title during the apartheid era in South Africa. Mzi Thulo beats Michael Taylor in their first bout held in the black township. As time goes by the two boxers gain mutual respect for one another in and out of the ring, which leads to an epic rematch. Based on a true story on Brian Mitchell a 14-time World Champion and International Boxing hall of famer.

• Ana, Patrick & Nicolas (25min).Directed by Bongani Vincent. Produced by Gena du Plessis. How do you say goodbye to the people you love the most? Ana, Patrick and Nicolas embroiled in a passionate triad relationship enjoying the good life in the middle of inner-city alternative Joburg. Their world is turned upside down when one of them is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given two weeks to live at best. The three of them struggle with fear, anger and denial as they watch the perfect world they have built together crumble around them, taking each of them on a journey of acceptance and rebuilding.

• Venus Reborn (10min). Directed by Diona Stevic-Marinko. Produced by Xolelwa Mkontwana. A young artist, Venus, who is disfigured by an accident and cannot accept her appearance, decides to build a perfect statue as a way to forget about her ugliness. The statue comes alive and opposes her ideas of how it should look. Through their struggle, the creation and the creator become one.

• Keys, Money, Phone (18min). Directed by Roger Young. Produced by Shanna Freedman. Sebastian arrives home, from a heavy night drinking in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Getting out of the taxi, he realises, too late, that he doesn't have his keys, his wallet and his cellphone. He tries to convince the security guard at his apartment complex to let him in, but the security guard just won't help. What follows is his futile attempts at convincing his friends to help him out with a couch to crash on until the morning.

• Socks And Bonds (20min). Directed by Daniel Zimbler. Produced by Mimi Jeffries. A middle-aged sock vendor and his long-suffering girlfriend venture out to the Hamptons to sell the next big thing in hosiery and undergarments. But in the midst of their hard sell, Max and Marcy discover a more pressing negotiation at hand.

• Preparation (28min). Directed by Tyron Janse van Vuuren. Produced by Tyron Janse van Vuuren. Inspired by Heath Ledger's preparation to play the role of The Joker, Preparation tells the story of Kingsley Bell, a Hollywood actor who isolates himself in a hotel room for six weeks to prepare to play a psychotic comic book villain in a forthcoming blockbuster film. The film follows the psychologically intense journey of an artist navigating his own self-doubt and creative frustration, ultimately to emerge with a career-defining performance.

• Across The Colour Bar (34min). Directed by Luscious Dosi. Produced by Lance Durwin Julies and Vuks Ncingwana. Ntabiseng is a name adapted by Charmaine, a white lady who relocated to Katlehong in 1995.This is a sociological documentary, reflecting an intersection of social pathologies including domestic abuse, cross-cultural male supremacy, interracial relationship and racism, while at the same time, shining a light on the generosity and grace of the particularly people in the township of Katlehong.

• Ibhokhwe (The Goat) (13min). Directed by John Trengrove. Produced by Elias Ribiero. A young Xhosa initiate recuperates in a mountain hut after a ritual circumcision. When he learns that his elders have abandoned him, the initiate is left with no one but his young brother to care for him. Caught between observing the sacred protocols of his culture and the secret of his gay sexuality, the initiate's panic turns to desperation.

shnit Global Report 2013 from Shnit Cape Town on Vimeo.

• Writer/director Jenna Bass's improvised directorial debut, Love The One You Love, premiered at the Durban International Film Festival in 2014, where it won awards for Best Actress, Best South African Feature and Best Direction In A South African Feature.

• Jahmil XT Qubeka's third feature film, Of Good Report, was a source of controversy at the Durban International Film Festival 2013, where the Film and Publications Board of SA banned it, disrupting its premiere and the festival's opening night. The ban was later revoked and the film went on to near clean sweeps at the SAFTAs and African Movie Academy Awards.

• Music video and commercials director Terence Neale's street culture-infused work has garnered him attention worldwide. His most recent project - a music video for Skrillex's Ragga Bomb, featuring a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, Joburg landscape, has clocked over 26 million YouTube views to date.

shnit Cape Town's local screening programme again comprises three categories in total, including the out-of-competition Kaapse Bobotie section and the Real Time Competition. Its SA screening categories together represent the largest yearly selection of South African short films screening anywhere in the world.

shnit OPENING NIGHT Cape Town 2013 from Shnit Cape Town on Vimeo.

Kaapse Bobotie - Out of Competition SA Showcase

Outside of competition, the audience-favourite Kaapse Bobotie programme is a smorgasbord of South African film delicacies. Over 25 films will screen in three programme blocks, comprising work by students and professionals, and including genre-focused work, art house fair, animation and even experimental films. The Kaapse Bobotie line-up will be announced shortly.

Real Time Competition - Films made during the festival

The shnit RealTime Competition invites three up-and-coming filmmakers to film, edit and complete a short film in just 72 hours over the course of the festival with filmmakers all working from the same point of inspiration. The three films premiere at Cape Town's Closing Awards Night where the audience chooses the winner. Past Real Time films have gone on to win awards at festival both in SA and abroad. 2013's winner, Gambit Films' The Briefcase, was highly rated at Cannes Short Film Corner 2014. Real Time filmmakers and theme will be announced mid-September.

The full schedule of films will release on www.shnit.org in late September.

Ticketing

All shows in 100-minute programme blocks. Tickets available directly from venues.
Tickets cost R40 (or R180 for a full weekend pass) unless otherwise advertised. Go to www.shnit.org or the Official Festival Guide, to be distributed citywide in late September.