MY FATHER's WINGS Wins Grand Prix Award at Cape Town International Film Festival

The 2017 Cape Town International Film Market & Festival announced its winners – with My Father’s Wings by Kivanç Sezer winning the Grand Prix Award, and Catching Feelings by Kagiso Lediga winning the award for Best South African Feature Film.

Over the ten days of the festival, energy of local young filmmakers combined with the enthusiasm from the many local and international experts, professionals and guest speakers, has proven that Cape Town’s film industry is thriving.

Pitching Competition

The winner of this year’s prize worth $20 000 is Nathan Theys, for Ronald.

The runner-up prize worth $10,000 awarded to Brett Michael Innes for Callus.

South African Short Film –Honorable Mentions

Jaap by Ian Morgan

Meticulously crafted, Jaap may start off with stereotypes, but the characters turn out well-rounded in the end. Director Ian Morgan has created a quirky, funny, poignant and endearing road trip movie.

Post by Jesse Brown

Post is an immersive sensory experience. A short, hand-held camera documentary it paints a portrait of filmmaker Jesse Brown’s grandfather, showing off an intimacy between the two that is both playful and real, yet sublime.

Best Short Film

Intergalactic Samurai by Hagar Ben-Asher

Well-rounded, polished, emotionally visceral and with an ending to make your hair stand on end, this story of two young Ethiopian girls in Israel will subtly teach you something you didn’t know. The story about identity is universal but will be of relevance to South Africans.

The superb performance Hagar Ben-Asher gets out of her two characters immediately grabbed us and left us gasping is Intergalactic Samurai.

Best Actor

Pankaj Tripathi as Salim in Mango Dreams

Best Actress

Antoinette Louw as Molly Fischer in An Act of Defiance

Best Script

Jean van der Velde for An Act of Defiance

Best Editing

Mustafa Presheva for Ayla: The Daughter of War

Best Cinematography

Massimo Moschin for The Last Prosecco

Best Documentary Film

Hana by Giuseppe Carrieri

Giuseppe Carrieri ‘s Hana was selected for its real documented incidents in 4 different countries concerning a human issue, connecting through the pain and the high Film language a well-made story telling documentary

Best LGBT Film

Special Mention Award

KA Bodyscapes by Jayan K. Cherian

In India homosexuality is criminalized in law, with high levels of persecution and harassment. In this context, KA Bodyscapes is a courageous film. It is a film about working class LGBT people struggling against both homophobia and sexism. Set in Kerala, the film weaves together several narratives that highlight the vulnerabilities of economic marginalization, violence, state harassment, and powerful queer resistance, in the daily realties of women and LGBT people.

Best LGBT Film

Heartstone by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson

This is an extraordinarily crafted film, dealing with the crisis in contemporary masculinity and how a heteronormative structure damages all genders and sexualities. It is a coming of age story of young people that mirrors the harsh and isolated, yet breathtaking, Icelandic fishing village in which it is set. Heartstone is a stunning debut feature with raw, visceral performances, sensitive directing, truthful screenwriting and poetic cinematography.

Best South African Feature Film

Catching Feelings by Kagiso Lediga

The film is a refreshing film that not only showcases the talent of its writer and director but also introduces the audience to characters and conversations that they will recognize instantly from their own lives. Well executed and vibrant, it is a love letter to Johannesburg and a deserving addition to the canon of South African cinema.