The Locations Africa Conference, the continent’s leading film conference and expo is poised later this week to bring together a range of speakers to the stage to discuss how to improve the industry.
A heritage centre rich in South African history, Constitution Hill, in Braamfontein is hosting pan-African and global delegates on 5 and 6 October.
The history of Constitution Hill adds to the significance of this expo, according to Azania Muendane, founder of Locations Africa.
“Constitution Hill is home to the Constitutional Court of South Africa, a place where democracy is entrenched and is also a filming set for many film, TV, music video and stills photography shoots” she adds.
She says South Africa and the rest of the continent ”offer filmmakers endless possibilities and a myriad of benefits when it comes to filming on African locations”.
The conference will cover issues around physical production, film-friendly locations, equipment availability, skills, and shooting facilities, as well as how incentives can be used to help inbound productions.
The opening addresses will be delivered by Dawn Robertson, CEO of Constitution Hill, and Busiswe Mhaga, Chairperson of the Gauteng Film Commission.
Other speakers and attendees include Kenya Film Commission CEO Timothy Owase, renowned Producer Bongiwe Selane, Moroba Nkawe MD of Maru Films, location scout from the USA, Jen Farris and Stan McCoy President and MD of the Motion Pictures Association of America for Africa and EMEA.
Supporting the conference are event sponsor partners South African Tourism, the Gauteng Film Commissions, the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, WESGRO, Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency with industry support from the African Film Commissions Network, Durban FilmMart Institute, NEWF, IBFC and IPO.
International private sector entities involved in films participating as speakers are: MIP Africa, the ITFFA- International Tourism Film Festival Africa, FIAPF-Int. Federation of Film Producers Associations.
Other speakers include Toni Monty, Aifheli Makhwanya industry IP specialist and researcher, Dr Maduekwe MD of Nigerian Film Corporation, Zanele Mthembu of SWIFT among others.
Filming locations, facilities, and skills are the focus of Locations Africa, a private sector initiative aimed at increasing the number of films and content shot on the continent while improving the skills of both the public and private sectors to meet filmmakers’ needs.
By increasing the number of businesses and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds participating in the industry, an African film brand identity will be created.
APA