Film O’Clock Fest to get SA stories in the zone

Highlighting shared stories with other countries on a meridian of 25 degrees east longitude. That’s the goal of a unique, new film festival, Film O’Clock International festival, which is set to take place from February 27 to March 3 with five countries on the same longitude line, from South Africa up to Egypt, Greece, Romania and Lithuania, all broadcasting simultaneously throughout the festival.

Cape Town-based producer and actor, Keenan Arrison, and filmmaker, Dian Weys linked up with Mirona Radu from Bucharest who is a veteran in film production, distribution and international film festivals, with the new Film O’Clock International Festival being organised by Ceatrix Fama and Culture Reality. The project was developed at the Next Wave programme at the Deutsche Film and Fernsehakademi Berlin (DFFB).

“Curated by representatives from each country, the selection will reflect contemporary issues faced by each country, focus on the discovery of new voices and highlight each country’s storytelling trends. From the Baltic Sea to the southernmost point of Africa, Film O’Clock will bring audiences from the southern and northern hemispheres together,” said Arrison.

He added that the festival would be online, which would also make it more accessible to a wider audience, eliminating expensive travel costs and the “by invitation“ custom. While the names of the short films and features are being selected, they remain under wraps for now, Arrison said: “We want to tell South African stories, but the biggest thing is to share how similar we are around the world, more than our differences.

During the film festival, short films will be shown throughout the day, with a feature film being shown every night at 7pm. For more information, go to the Film O’Clock website: www.foc-iff.com