Cultivating new talent at Sithengi 2004!

The Talent Campus is a platform for young and aspiring filmmakers to meet and exchange views and ideas with local and international experts.

Hosted at the Artscape Complex, in Cape Town, the Talent Campus will cover important aspects of the filmmaking process from pre-production, production, post-production and promotion and marketing to distributing film. Film students, aspiring filmmakers as well as established filmmakers are eligible to participate in the Talent Campus. It will comprise of eight sessions a day of between 60 to 80 participants.

Says CEO of Sithengi, Michael Auret: "The Talent Campus is a great opportunity for students and both aspiring and experienced filmmakers to learn from masters in the industry, both locally and internationally. The Sithengi Film & Television Market will now provide a new learning environment within the Market to allow professionals to increase their knowledge and skills and benefit from visiting international experts".

The Berlin Talent Campus attracted over 400 students from more than 60 countries. The nine year old Sithengi Film and Television Market is an annual event for film and television industry professionals. In 2003 it attracted more than 1400 delegates from over 50 countries and intends on expanding numbers to their first Talent Campus. Twenty registered film students and 10 aspiring filmmakers will be selected to form part of the Talent Campus with the rest of the Talent Campus entrants comprising of the Sithengi Film and TV Market delegates.

"Our aim is to allow aspirant and veteran filmmakers an opportunity to acquire knowledge on global trends and techniques. Our creative minds can then adapt this knowledge to fit with our own African experiences and in this way produce something quite unique to the world. Countries such as India, Nigeria and some South American countries have managed to use their creativity combined with global trends in innovative ways that has created new worlds in film. The Sithengi Talent Campus aims to equip its participants with the knowledge and skills so that their creativity can flourish in ways that make profitable business sense," says Film and Television Market director, Seanne Kube.

To qualify for entry into the Talent Campus, entrants must also submit a short CV, which should include contact details as well as a letter of motivation explaining why they should be selected for the Talent Campus; a short film of no longer than 30 minutes on VHS or DVD format for viewing. Deadline for entries is 15 September 2004. Be sure not to miss out on this amazing opportunity! For more information, please call Fatima Ross on 021-430 8249.