The First First Winelands Film festival will start rolling on the 18th of April. According to festival directors Leon van der Merwe and Karen Meiring, there will be 92 films screened at the festival.

The Oude Libertas Amphitheatre will serve as the festival centre, but films will also be screened at six other venues in Stellenbosch which include the Ikaya Trust Centre in Kayamandi, JC le Roux Auditorium, HB Thom Theatre, Protea Cinemas in the Neelsie and the Protea Hotel Dorpshuis.

The Cape Winelands Festival is presented in association with MNET and the French Embassy.

Says Leon van der Merwe, “We do not just want to give a window on world cinema, but we also want to promote, generate and stimulate audiences for film in South Africa.”

Well-known artists at the festival include the Taiwanese film director Huang Yushan, and the Brazilian film director Sandra Kogut.

The festival programme include films in the following categories - World Cinema: As it is in heaven (Sweden), Room to Rent (Egypt), Syndromes and a Century (Thailand), Mutum from Brazil.

Eco Cinema: A documentary about the great Cape fire aptly named Mountain of Ashes, and an Afrikaans film Medisynesak.

Music in Film: La Vie en Rose, La France.

Food on Film: The Feast.

Cinema of Conscience: Oscar winning documentary, Taxi to the Darkside as well as an Oscar nominated documentary Vote for Me.

South African premières: At Thy Call by Christopher Lee dos Santos, ’n Roos vir Mari by Louis du Toit.

This year the focus is on France: The King and the Mockingbird is an animated film aimed at children, Jacquot de Nantes, Games of Love and Chance, Humanity and the brilliant film A time to Leave.

Film makers will also compete for the Cape Winelands World Cinema Award, the Cape Winelands Documentary Award and Cape Winelands Short Film Award and lastly the Audience Award.

This year the film festival also commemorates the life of film- and theatre director Ingmar Bergman, who recently passed away at the age of 89.

The Bergman films that will be showcased are: Saraband, Fanny and Alexander, Smiles of a Summer Night, Wild Strawberries and Persona.

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Read more about the Film Festival in our Events Section for all the dates.