Life / Arts & Entertainment Boost for SA’s filmmakers with Canadian mentorship programme The National Film and Video Foundation hosted a breakfast to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of a co-production deal between Canada and SA BL PREMIUM

A mentorship for aspiring South African filmmakers is among the highlights of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which wrapped up at the weekend.The 10-day festival cast a spotlight on a host of new film titles sure to gain attention come awards season. And it isn’t just major Hollywood productions that have benefited from the North American event; the festival has also been a boon for cinema from around the world, including SA.Four films — a documentary and three narrative features — were part of the official line-up of the 2017 festival. Filmmakers from Silas, a co-production between Canada, Kenya and SA about the life of Liberian activist Silas Siakor; the iPhone-shot High Fantasy; the Western set in the Eastern Cape, Five Fingers for Marseilles; and The Number, based on the notorious prison gangs, attended the 10-day event in the Canadian city, many of them supported by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).The NFVF’s head of marketing and communicat...