S. Africa hosts international film festival to lure producers

Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-13 22:23:43|Editor: Song Lifang
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CAPE TOWN, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The 38th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) kicked off on Thursday with the aim of luring more film producers to South Africa.

The DIFF, which will last till July 23, is an annual film festival held in the coustal city of Durban and one of the oldest and largest film festivals in southern Africa.

In a congratulatory message, South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said his department was participating in the DIFF which "is one of the best platforms a country can promote and showcase the country's creative skills."

The SA Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was fundingd workshops, dialogues and screening of productions in support of the festival.

Davies said the platform will be used to market the department's South African Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive and target producers who qualify.

The incentive includes a rebate of up to 50 percent for the first 6 million rand (about 450,000 U.S. dollars) of the Qualifying South African Production Expenditure (QSAPE) and 25 percent thereafter. No cap is applicable for this rebate.

"The incentive objective is still to create an environment that take advantage of the country's diverse and unique locations as well as low production costs and favorable exchange rates, which makes it significantly more cost-effective to produce a movie in South Africa than in Europe, the United States or Australia," said Davies.

The film industry has enormous potential in bringing the necessary currency into the economy and can act as an important vehicle through which technology is transferred and South African skills base is upgraded, the minister said.

The SA government spent 468 million rand with projected investment of 3.4 billion rand in the 2015/2016 financial year supporting the sector.

Productions to be screened during the festival include: The Wound, Hard To Get, Double Echo, Hope, The Killing Floor, The Whale Caller, Winnie, Vaya, The Most Beautiful Day, Catching Feelings, Mhlola and Asinamali.

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