Special Jury Mention at Cape Winelands Film Festival in South Africa

From the website of the Cape Winelands Film Festival:

“Films from Azerbaijan, Serbia, Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Slovakia and South Africa were among the winners of the 5th edition of the Cape Winelands Film Festival (CWFF), which had its last screenings on 24 March 2012 in Stellenbosch and Cape Town. The programme included award winning features, documentaries and shorts from more than 48 countries.

The Award for Best Director went to Serbian director Miloš Radivojević. How I Was Stolen by the Germans tells the story of director and writer Radivojević’s childhood and how his life was influenced by the people he grew up with. As a child he felt neglected by his communist family and was taken care of by a German officer, who occupied his home during the Second World War and was the only person who offered him any love and warmth during his child-hood.

The Serbian documentary Cinema Komunisto received a special mention award from the jury.

Commenting on the 5th edition of the festival, Festival director Leon van der Merwe noted that the “overwhelming international response to the CWFF’s short and feature film competition once again indicated that the festival is being perceived as the most important film festival platform in South Africa for quality productions from around the world, especially regarding features by new directorial voices, who are looking for opportunities to exhibit their work in South Africa”.

The festival has been listed since 2010 as one of the leading film festivals in the world by International Film Guide. Jury members included Malu De Martino (Brazil), Dr Ibrahim Saleh (Egypt), Professor Torsten Schulz (Germany), Letebele Masemola–Jones (RSA), Vladan Petkovic (Serbia), Paul Weinberg (RSA), Xavier Garcia Puerto (Spain), Jacques de Villiers (RSA), Dylan Valley (RSA), Dr Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk (RSA), Errol Schwartz (RSA), Dr Liani Maasdorp (RSA) and Zulfah Otto Sallies (RSA).”