Represent Shesha: VUKA! call for entries
We urged you last year and we urge you again in the rapidly disappearing 007. If you want a chance to show your work as a director to the industry at large, the Vuka’s certainly give you a platform to do that. Now we’re not going to nag you, you know who you are, all Representah’s who are already directing or still dream of directing, make it happen! Find your charity partner and make that public service announcement. We look forward to seeing your name on the finalist’s list. You know you can do it! You got about 7 weeks – entries close the 20 Oct so get a move on brothers and sisters with vision, determination and talent. Represent!
Every year, without fail, South African film makers dare to make PSA’s about important issues to enter into the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards. This year we dare you to do it again.
Entries for the 9th annual MultiChoice VUKA! Awards have just opened.
You don’t have to try hard to avoid reality. We live behind high walls, electric fences. Our car windows are up, doors locked. The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards dare you to open your eyes. We dare you to see, to hear and to feel. We dare you to make a commercial that encourages viewers to buy into humanity and not a product. We dare you to put your heart on your sleeve and move people. Come on, we dare you.
If you cast your eyes over a list of the people who have dared to make MultiChoice VUKA! Awards it reads like a South African filmmakers guide to Who’s who. Luminaries like Keith Rose, Miles Goodall, Sunu Gonera, Cindy Lee, Kevin Fitzgerald, Mike Middleton, Werner Maritz, Sergio and Lizelle Mes pop out at you. Whether they initially entered as newcomers in the hope of launching their careers, or as professionals flexing their muscles; they all hold some things in common; the daring, the drive and the determination to be successful in this industry.
“The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards aims to encourage South Africans to focus beyond the lens, creating empathy, inspiring action, building national pride and, ultimately, generating income and awareness for the charities”, says Marilyn Watson, corporate communications manager, MultiChoice.
You can hear the same note of daring in the voices of last year’s winners. Best Overall Newcomer winner, Leon Von Solms says that participating in the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards gave him the confidence and the affirmation he needed to continue following his dream. Best Newcomer Director Matthew Bilton says creating a MultiChoice VUKA! is a rite of passage for any young filmmaker because it gives you a strong understanding of the production process. Matthew has since provided the animatics for Regardt van den Bergh’s new film The Lamb.
The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards have launched many South African filmmaker’s careers. But it is also an opportunity for established, industry professionals to show us what they can do. Adam Thal and Ryan Poole of Star Productions enter the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards every year religiously. Last year they entered two PSA’s; Tokoloshe won Best Overall and Tar took home Best Concept and Script. Thal maintains that the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards are an opportunity they relish; it allows them exercise their creativity for causes close to their hearts. Collective Energy’s rising director Grant De Sousa’s PSA There’s no going back garnered a Best Editing VUKA! Award; it has since been short listed in the 2007 Young Directors Awards at the Cannes Lions this year.
If you consider the types of personalities and people who thrive in our film, television and advertising industry it becomes easy to understand why our film makers continue to make MultiChoice VUKA! Awards every year. They cannot say no to a dare. Neither should you.
The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards is a competition for both professional filmmakers and newcomers with a burning passion for filmmaking, to produce Public Service Announcement (PSA) that will enrich the lives of the people of South Africa. ” says Jackie Rakitla of MultiChoice.
Download an entry form from the website http://vuka.multichoice.co.za/. Or, pick, up hard copies from most major industry suppliers and post-production facilities. Call Shelli or Fatima on +27 11 804 2552 or email Vuka@thebomb.co.za.
The closing date for entries is 20 October 2007 with the awards ceremony in November.
