Researchers at Rhodes University, Fiona Drummond, Delon Tarentaal and Jen Snowball have today published a report on “Mapping Film Festivals in South Africa: the impact of COVID-19” as part of the Creative Voucher Scheme supported by AHSCE South Africa Hub. The project aims to support knowledge development in the creative economies and fostering collaborations between academic researchers and practitioners. The project offers an excellent opportunity for the Rhodes University researcher to discuss their mapping with Ms Lindi Ndebele-Koka, who has amazing experience and knowledge of the field. The project findings have the potential to contribute to the establishment of the Film Festival Association South Africa and make it an association aware of the changes and impact that Covid-19 has had on the sector.
The report highlights that “The most common response to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 was for film festivals to either cancel or move completely online. However, as COVID-19 restrictions eased, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of completely online film festivals. This supports the view in much of the literature that completely online events are not able to generate the social aspects of festivals, can be complex and expensive to organise, and (especially in a South African context), exclude those without the resources to access the online content.” (page 18). However, it also find that it is likely that hybrid festival formats will become a permanent feature in the future for South Africa.
To download and read the full report, click on the link below.
Drummond F, Tarentaal D and Snowball J (2023) Mapping Film Festivals in South Africa, The impact of COVID-19. Project commissioned by the African Hub for Sustainable Creative Economies (AHSCE), available at: www.creative-economies-africa.org