Cape Town hosts regional film industry “Oscars”
The Cape Film Commission and City of Cape Town are hosting the second annual Imbongi Awards to recognise excellence within the Cape Town and Western Cape film industry. The event aims to showcase the best production talent and facilities in the region.
Awards in ten categories plus a Chairman's Award will be made at a special ceremony on 6 March 2010 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
Chairperson of the Cape Film Commission (CFC) board, Gary Edwardes, says: "We will be honouring the entire film industry for their contribution in having established Cape Town and the Western Cape as a globally competitive film industry destination."
"The Imbongi Awards underpins Cape Town's established reputation for production craft by recognising, rewarding and honouring individuals and companies for outstanding achievement in pre-production, production and post-production. We have a high-profile independent judging panel and a stringent judging process to insure the integrity of the awards, which will be audited by Galbraith Rushby Auditors," explains Edwardes.
Head of the CFC, Laurence Mitchell, says: "The film industry has been able to attract a significant amount of productions to Cape Town and the Western Cape which in turn contributed significantly to the growth of the film industry and the economy of the Western Cape. In addition, these productions have further contributed to the marketing of Cape Town and the Western Cape as a desirable location and industry for film productions. The Imbongi Awards is thus our way of paying homage to those individuals and companies who have all contributed to this success".
The nomination process officially opened on 19 January 2010 and closes on 5 February 2010. Successful nominees will be notified on 9 February and the finalists for each of the categories will be announced on 22 February, with winners announced on 6 March.
Mitchell reports that last year, despite the impact of the global recession on the local film industry, the Western Cape and South Africa as a whole enjoyed great exposure through various productions that reflected local culture and content.
District 9, Invictus and The Sinking of the Laconia are just some of the films that brought big international stars to film locally.
He adds, "As testimony to a consistently growing skills base, the BBC have chosen the Mother City as the venue for their main presentation studio during the World Cup and numerous other broadcasters have set up base around the Western Cape."
"This is one of the most significant marketing opportunities the CFC has been able to facilitate. The BBC will televise 32 live games to at least 200-million viewers with Table Mountain, the Waterfront, Cape Town stadium and Robben Island as backdrops."
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