Category Archives: Art

The FAME Shorts Film Festival Announces 2024 Programme

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The FAME Shorts Film Festival returns to Cape Town’s Labia Theatre from 4-7 September, bringing a dazzling array of African cinema. Featuring 31 thought-provoking films, the festival showcases innovative and creative filmmakers from across the continent, offering audiences a rich tapestry of stories from Africa and its diaspora. The eagerly anticipated programme was announced on https://fameshortsfilmfestival.com and bookings are open. 

Open to the public, the festival is a highlight of FAME Week Africa, an annual gathering and trade show for the entertainment industry. Martin Hiller, FAME Week Africa Portfolio Director, shared his excitement about this year’s line-up, “We’re absolutely thrilled with the FAME Shorts Film Festival programme! It’s brimming with personal stories, biographies, and tales of innovation, underscoring the rich diversity of African societies.” 

Over four captivating days, the programme explores themes of drifting through life’s challenges, the growing pains of coming of age, the complexities of love stories, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

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Animé Film Festival Coming To South African Cinemas

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The popularity of Animé content, known as animation in Japan, has exploded in recent years, with an entire subculture passionate about the film and television series in this colourful and captivating genre. Following on the success of The Boy and The Heron’s release earlier this year in cinemas, Gravel Road Distribution Group is now bringing South African audiences a cinema-first…. a dedicated Animé film festival celebrating the iconic Studio Ghibli, on the big screen, starting this August.

The Japanese Studio Ghibli is one of the most acclaimed animation studios in the world, and the home of some of the most beloved Anime works to have ever released. Founded in 1985 by film directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, the globally renowned studio has produced twenty-two feature-length films, and won numerous accolades, including two Academy® Awards, a Golden Globe and the coveted Cannes Film Festival honorary Palme d’Or. (The first time in history a company has been bestowed this prestigious acknowledgement).

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THE ADDAMS FAMILY Musical: South African Premiere at The Homecoming Centre

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MotherCity Theatre Productions is proud to announce the professional South African premiere of THE ADDAMS FAMILY Musical by Andrew Lippa, Marshal Brickman & Rick Elice, at The old Fugard, now called The Homecoming Centre.

Based on the beloved characters created by Charles Addams, THE ADDAMS FAMILY Musical centres around the eccentric, macabre, and ghoulish Addams family, led by Gomez and Morticia Addams. With witty one-liners, crazy characters, spooky effects and all the weird wonderfulness fans of the most outrageous family ever have come to expect, the show will be a holiday hit for young and old alike.

When that beloved and moody princess of darkness, Wednesday, falls for a “normal” boy named Lucas Beineke, the two families come together for a traditional ‘get to know the parents’ dinner. But when one of those families is The Addams Family, only chaos, comedy and calamity can ensue. When the laughter dies down, however, deeper themes are explored – such as love, tradition, acceptance, and embracing one’s uniqueness… All with a darkly humorous twist, of course.

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Museum of Illusions now open in Johannesburg

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The city of gold has added another diamond to its stellar constellation of unmissable attractions. The Museum of Illusions just opened its doors in the vibrant Rosebank node, becoming the 53rd Museum of Illusions in the world, joining the likes of Dubai, Chicago, New York, Paris, Istanbul, Milan, Shanghai, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur and Dallas who are all home to the remarkable experience. The Museum of Illusions Johannesburg is located just above Hamleys, across the bridge from Spur, and next door to EGG.

 

The concept first launched in Zagreb, Croatia in 2015 and soon became a global phenomenon with over 12 million people having visited the museums to date, and it is easy to see why. No two museums are the same, with each facility taking visitors on a memorable sensory journey through mind bending installations that leverage art, science, maths and psychology in a unique way. 

 

Watch a video with a sneak peek of what to expect at the Johannesburg Museum of Illusions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9JH3reI8CQ

 

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South Africa Celebrates A Cultural Treasure As The 50th National Arts Festival Begins

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PICTURE: MARK WESSELS

Drums rolled and choirs sang out as Makanda celebrated the opening of the 50th National Arts Festival. A contagious sense of national and regional pride resounded from the dignitaries who attended the milestone Festival ceremony held in the very same auditorium where the Festival was first launched in 1974.

The Festival’s home town of Makhanda is also the childhood home of the National Arts Festival’s Deputy Chair, writer and academic, Dr Siphiwo Mahala. He remarked on the journey of the Festival from a gathering founded to preserve British language and culture to “one of the most inclusive and diverse arts festival’s in the world.” Mahala said this was possible in part because of the shared values and enduring partnership of the Festival’s partners.

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