Tri Continental Film Festival's finest

Four films topped the audience awards at this year's 7th Tri Continental Film Festival, beating 49 other titles in the categories of Best International Documentary, Best South African Documentary, Best Feature Film and Best Short Film.

Holly Lubbock's Fezeka's Voice was voted as the Best International Documentary. This inspirational film tells the story of the Fezeka High School choir and its journey of a lifetime from Gugulethu, Cape Town to England, to take part in the Salisbury Arts Festival. Fezeka's Voice received an overwhelming number of votes.

Once again, local documentary films about music and musicians also proved popular with the festival audience. This year, Lloyd Ross's The Silver Fez, about the world of Cape Malay choirs and the personalities that compete to be crowned champions, was chosen as the Best South African Documentary.

Skin the best feature

The Best Feature Film award was unanimously awarded to Skin, the compelling and moving true story of Sandra Laing, a black woman born to a white family in South Africa during the height of apartheid. Skin premiered at the Johannesburg leg of the Tri Continental Film Festival at which Laing herself was a guest.

In the category Best Short Film, audiences selected Father Christmas Doesn't Come Here by Bhekumuzi Sibiya, one of a number of emerging filmmakers featured at the Tri Continental Film Festival.

"The Tri Continental Film Festival features would not have been possible without the funding of The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, SABC, The National Film and Video Foundation, The Goethe Institut, The French Embassy, French Institute of South Africa, The Cape Film Commission and Timberland," said festival director Zivia Desai. "Our heartfelt thanks to these funders and our partner organisations."

For more info, go to www.3continentsfestival.co.za.