Good evening ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to see such a great turnout for this event, which has become entrenched on the Annual Events Calendar, and which has grown in stature with every passing year.

The festival organisers led by Director Karen Meiring have reason to be proud about their achievements given the interest in the event both locally but also from abroad. It includes a number of representatives present including German film curator and journalist, Dorothee Wenner and British producer of the series Tabloids: The Animated Web Series, Peter Cowley.

The City of Cape Town knows little about the creative process behind film-making, but it knows a good investment when it sees it.

The film industry has created more than 35 000 jobs over a three-year period and annually pumps approximately R5 billion into the local economy. The industry is helping us to achieve our goals as a local government and so it makes sense for us to do what we can to further develop the industry.

In the 2017/18 financial year, the City’s Film Permit Office received 11 350 film bookings. By the third quarter of the next financial year that number had been comfortably exceeded. This is testament to the city’s attractiveness as a destination for filmmakers but also our administration’s acknowledgment of the role that the industry plays.

And because we realise the value of the industry, the City is proud to partner with festival organisers where possible, including funding events like the Encounters Documentary Festival which I attended a few months ago, the Cape Town International Animation Festival and more recently the Silwerskerm Film Festival.

We understand the value of these projects not only because of the impact that they have on our economy but also for their ability to provide a platform to tell our stories through film and to inspire others who are looking to film as a potential career.

The line-up includes a number of full-length films, short films as well as student productions, but it also provides a platform for aspirant filmmakers to take away valuable lessons and guidance that they can put to use in their own careers.

If this industry continues to flourish, creativity continues to flourish and so too the opportunity for more people to tell their stories. In a country as diverse as ours, this can only strengthen our understanding and bond as a nation.

The City will continue to do its utmost to keep the cameras rolling.  

With that said, enjoy the rest of the festivities and I look forward to the film screening.

End