Current
Current news articles for the Centre for Film and Media Studies.
On Tuesday, 8 May, renowned journalist and UCT alumna Zubeida Jaffer introduced CFMS to the online media initiative The Journalist. Jaffer explained that today’s students are clueless about certain aspects of the anti-apartheid struggle and the role the media played in South Africa’s liberation movement.
The Centre for Film and Media Studies, together with the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC) will co-host a symposium titled “BRICS Media Systems in a Digital Age” at the University of Cape Town on 6-7 September. The event´s aim is to analyse the impact of digitalisation processes on society in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and follows on the 10th Summit of leaders of the BRICS countries to be held in Johannesburg in July.
The Centre for Film and Media Studies is proud to announce that two of our alumni, Aliki Saragas and Jessie Zinn, have been selected for the Talents Durban. The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) welcomes 19 filmmakers from 13 African countries to the 11th edition of Talents Durban, which takes place from 20 to 24 July during the festival.
CFMS is celebrating the graduation of two of its PhD and two of its masters students. Dr Norita Mdege, Dr Bernadine Jones, Msakha Mona and Rozanne Engel received their degrees in April 2018. Some of these students have been closely involved in the department and leave lasting footprint. We asked them to share their graduation experience and offer advice to future postgraduates.
Prof Herman Wasserman, Director of the Centre for Film and Media Studies, has received three awards this year in recognition of his scholarly work: The Georg Foster Research Award, the Stals Prize for Academy for Science and Arts, and the Neva Award in journalism and mass communication research.
Prof Herman Wasserman recently received the prestigious Georg Foster Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at a symposium held in Bamberg, Germany. Prof Wasserman’s award was one of three Georg Foster awards presented to prizewinners at the symposium.
Censorship, one of the insidious strategies used by the apartheid government, has made an ominous comeback in South Africa with the recent X18 classification of the award-winning film Inxeba (The Wound), writes senior lecturer in film, Dr Liani Maasdorp in a recent article on The Conversation. In South Africa the film can now only be shown in locations licensed to screen adult entertainment.
On 21 February CFMS’ Associate Professor Tanja Bosch presented in the Urban Systems panel at the Kpakpakpa Design Sessions, at the Zeitz MOCAA Museum, located in the V&A Waterfront. A/Prof Bosch was part of a panel on how to rethink space in the city. In her talk entitled "Social media and the dynamics of the city", she spoke about how social media architectures can replicate offline spatial inequalities.
“The day I was attacked by a shark my life changed, for the better.” Scarlet’s Tale is a documentary film that tells the incredible story of a bond between a man and Scarlet, the great white shark who took his leg. It’s a story about confronting society’s greatest fears, overcoming extreme adversity and changing perspectives. The film, created by CFMS third years Faine Loubser – Director; Trygve Heide – Director of Photography and Producer; Khiraad Mathura – Editor and Sound in cooperation with the featured Achmat Hassiem and their mentor Craig Foster, has been selected to screen at this year’s Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival.
Three CFMS students, Annabela Bekker, Jessica Barraclough and Alix Hodge, have created a unique and original web-based interactive documentary entitled the Queer Me Out Project. These 2017 Digital Media Production class students have created a platform that explores the relationships between language and LGBTQIA+ identity in Cape Town and South Africa.
CFMS PhD student Chikezie Uzuegbunam recently attended a fully funded PhD short course on "The Journalistic Field, Media, Culture and Participation" in Paris, France. The course, which ran from 24-28 October, is dedicated to bring together emerging and senior scholars to debate key dimensions of participation, both in regards to traditional audiences and to the new forms of digital collective actions.
The Centre for Film and Media Studies and UCT TV, with generous support from the Bosch Stiftung, are thrilled to be able to host a second round of the African Filmmaking Fellowship (AFF) in 2017. Invitations were sent to universities across Africa and the response was overwhelming. Over thirty applications were received from which twelve fellows, six faculty members and six postgraduate students, were selected.