International "script doctor" Miguel Machalski will be working this week with the Durban team that developed and co-produced the award-winning feature film, Izulu Lami (My Secret Sky), to develop the script of its follow-up film, Muti Dot Mobi.

Machalski is a Paris-based film script consultant who worked on Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby and the Iranian Foreign Language Oscar-winner, A Separation, as well as Best British Independent Film Award winner Billy Elliott. Machalski arrived in Durban on Monday, May 13 to work on the script of the latest film in development from longstanding Durban company Vuleka Productions, with director Madoda Ncayiyana and producer Julie Frederikse, who are co-writing the script.

Machalski's script consultancy work is supported by the eThekwini Municipality’s International Relations Office and Durban Film Office, as well as Durban's twin city of Nantes and the French city's 3Continents Film Festival. This cooperation between Durban and Nantes highlights the two cities’ relationship around filmmaking. Frederikse and Ncayiyana developed their first feature film at Produire au Sud (Producing with the South) of Nantes, which is also supporting Machalski's script work on Ncayiyana's new film. Machalski's workshop will be held at the Durban premises of Alliance Francaise.

Ncayiyana's debut film, Izulu Lami, which premiered at the Durban International Film Festival, won six international Best Feature Film awards: at the Cannes, Pan-African International Film Festival and the international film festivals of Verona, Italy; Kerala, India; Tarifa, Spain and Zanzibar, and at the African Movie Academy Awards, as well as 2nd Prize at the One World Media Awards, UK. Ncayiyana's short film, The Sky in Her Eyes, is the only South African film to win an official award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Djibril Diop Mambety Prize for Best African Short Film.

It was during Vuleka's unique casting process in 2007, supported by the Durban Film Office and the INK Area Based Management programme, that they discovered the child actors who starred in Izulu Lami and won Best Actor awards at the African Movie Academy Awards, the South African Film and Television Awards and the Tarifa African Film Festival. Tshepang Mohlomi and Sobahle Mkhabase were 13 years and 10 years old respectively when the film was shot. Mohlomi went on to win a second African Movie Academy Award for his role in Sara Blecher's Otelo Burning. He performs at music concerts in KwaZulu Natal and will showcase his vocal talent in his starring role in Muti Dot Mobi.

"The heart of Muti Dot Mobi is the world of entertainment," said director and co-writer Ncayiyana. "Tshepang plays a wannabe performer with a groundbreaking style, featuring an unusual mix of music, from African traditional and gospel to hip-hop and beatboxing. I am confident that he will deliver the powerful acting and singing performance required, as he is a rare young talent and is very serious about his career."

The countdown to Mediatech 2013 has started and anticipation for the top brands and services on offer this year in broadcast, film and production has begun to build. Professionals involved with content creation and production across various mediums through to transmission can look forward to a dynamic experience and an opportunity to engage with the latest in cutting edge technology.

"Mediatech is the only real broadcasting event of its kind that provides a good forum to network with virtually the whole broadcast industry. It's an opportunity to build relationships and introduce customers to product specialists who can talk in detail about topical technologies and the solutions to address their current and future needs." says Steve Alves, MD of Concilium Technologies who is exhibiting again this year. After NAB, Alves is excited about showcasing new products from Harris, Ross, Telecast, Prodys to name a few, along with some interesting additional products from other partners. "There are just too many great products to mention", says Alves who encourages attendees to visit their stand to view the exciting array of brands on display.

Confirmed exhibitors in broadcast, film and production for this year include:
Touchvision, African Union Communications, Atos, Concilium Technologies, Gencom, Inala Technologies, Jaycor International, Mac Africa, Macro Video, Media Cloud, Movie Vision, Neotel, Penmac Audio Visual, Questek Advanced Technologies, Telemedia, Case Connection, Movie Mart / Media Film Services, Phoenix Fire, Etere.

Exhibitors, Inala Technologies, Telemedia and MovieVision are among a number of companies looking forward to bringing out some valuable international principles. Broadcasters, producers, cinema owners and post production professionals will be able to engage in product expertise from these highly regarded guests and speakers attending Mediatech Africa in July. Inala Technologies will also be exhibiting and demonstrating the newest products from TVLogic, Harmonic, Aviwest, Riedel and Pebble Beach and some well-known names in the industry such as Associated Press, TSL and MOG will also be present. Telemedia's Michael Hall, international sales manager for Crystal Vision Ltd, looks after sales in many countries across the world and is excited to showcase products to visitors in broadcasting and teleports. Says Hall: "Mediatech is a busy show with good connections to the local broadcasters."

The exhibition will take place between 17 and 19 July at The Coca-Cola Dome, Johannesburg and visitors are invited to register free at the Mediatech website before 7 July to avoid paying R50 at the door.

The 15th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival runs from 6-16 June 2013 in Johannesburg and Cape Town. 

Africa’s premier documentary event will screen the most-talked about documentaries from around the world, including two 2013 Oscar nominees (The Gatekeepers and How To Survive A Plague) and winners from Berlin (Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present; In Heaven Underground), DOK Leipzig (Colombianos), and Sundance (Queen of Versailles; The House I Live In).

“Documentaries broaden our experience of the world, showing us places few of us would otherwise see,” says new festival director Lesedi Oluko Moche, pointing to a varied line-up that takes you from the biggest home in America (Queen of Versailles) and the world’s richest apartment building (Park Avenue) to one of Jordan’s poorest villages (Rafea: Solar Mama); from the locker rooms of Wimbledon (Venus & Serena) to behind-the-scenes at The Museum of Modern Art in New York (Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present); and from farms in Zimbabwe (The Bag on My Back) to a 130-year-old Jewish cemetery in Berlin (In Heaven Underground).

The documentaries will introduce you to an influential pimp in America (Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp); a divorced Moroccan wedding videographer (Camera/Woman); an Argentinian classical pianist (Bloody Daughter); Colombian immigrants in Sweden (Colombianos); drummers in Africa and Europe (The Fellowship of The Drums); and persecuted female bloggers in Cuba, China and Iran (Forbidden Voices).

This year’s line-up also shines a spotlight on some of the world’s most debated issues, including poverty (Poor Us: An Animated History; Rafea: Solar Mama); the war on drugs (The House I Live In); inter-cultural adoption (Mercy Mercy – A Portrait of True Adoption); HIV/Aids (How To Survive a Plague); and Israel/ Palestine (The Gatekeepers, The Village Under The Forest).

But Encounters isn’t just about looking outwards: there are 13 documentaries investigating Africa. Comrade President profiles Mozambican president Samora Machel, while No Harm Done, which won Best Documentary at FESPACO, is the story of agnostic Tunisian documentary filmmaker Nadia el Fani’s double battle against cancer and a radical Islamist hate campaign.

Hot from Hot Docs, Riaan Hendricks’ The Devil’s Lair will have its African premiere as the opening night film at Encounters. It’s a jarring story of fatherhood, drug dealers and assassinations on the Cape Flats.

Aryan Kaganof’s An Inconsolable Memory follows the story of the Eoan Group from the vibrant era of Cape Town’s District Six to present day.

Dylan Valley’s Incarcerated Knowledge follows a reformed gangster from his release from Pollsmoor as he tries to turn his life around; Shannon Walsh and Arya Lalloo’s Jeppe On a Friday is part Jozi travelogue, part urban allegory.

Mark Kaplan and Heidi Grunebaum’s The Village Under The Forest explores the hidden remains of the destroyed Palestinian village of Lubya, which lies under the purposefully cultivated forest plantation called South Africa Forest.

Shelley Barry’s Mr. Shakes – The Passion To Live follows the Port Elizabeth disco king; while Tamarin Kaplan and Marla Altschuler’s award-winning The White Picket Fence Project is a coming-of-age documentary about two young men: one in post-war Kosovo, the other in Gugulethu.

“We’re incredibly excited about this year’s streamlined lineup,” says Lesedi. “Every year, most of the screenings sell-out, so we recommend booking early.”

Encounters is running from 6-16 June 2013 at The Bioscope in Jozi and at Nu Metro at the V&A Waterfront and The Fugard in Cape Town.
 
Encounters is brought to you by our main sponsors: The NFVF, Bertha Foundation, City Of Cape Town, Wesgro and V&A Waterfront. Guests travel courtesy of Goethe Institut, German Consulate, American Consulate, British Council and French Institute SA.
 

You can watch and download the trailers at the links below:

Camera/Woman:

Colombianos:

Comrade President:

The Devil's Lair:

The Fellowship of The Drums:

Forbidden Voices:

The Gatekeepers:

The House I Live In:

How To Survive A Plague:

Incarcerated Knowledge:

In Heaven Underground:

Jeppe on a Friday:

Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present:

The New African Photography:

Park Avenue:

Poor Us:

The Queen of Versailles:

Rafea: Solar Mama:

Venus & Serena:

The Village Under The Forest:

The White Picket Fence Project:

For more information, visit www.encounters.co.za.

To stay informed, Like Encounters on Facebook  or follow @encountersdoc on Twitter.

The 38th Assembly of Parties of the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization EUTELSAT took place 15 and 16 May 2013 in Paris, under the Chairmanship of Ms Marta Leandro of Portugal and with Mr Frédéric Labarrere of Monaco as Vice-Chairman.  Ms Leandro is a senior expert within the Portuguese communications regulator ANACOM who has represented Portugal in several intergovernmental organisations.  Mr Labarrere is Counselllor at the Embassy of the Principality of Monaco in France, where his responsibilities include political and economic affairs.

Three high calibre candidates from Italy, Poland and France were proposed for the position of Executive Secretary.  The Assembly elected to reappoint by acclamation Mr Christian Roisse of France for a third mandate of four years from 2 July 2013.

The Assembly adopted a Resolution on the use of satellite to bridge the digital divide, encouraging the 49 Member States of the pan-European organisation to take into account the advantages of satellite-based broadband services for access to internet, in particular when responding to their national, public and institutional needs.

Important matters were considered by the Assembly, including the priority of rights of use of radiofrequencies assigned to EUTELSAT IGO under the Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the problem of deliberate jamming and piracy of satellite transmissions, relevant developments in the national, European and worldwide regulatory environment and the future of the use of the C-Band for fixed satellite services.

France’s Institut National de l’Audiovisuel acquired archive of post-genocide Rwanda footage from award-winning documentarian Anne Aghion.

The Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA)—the organization charged with preserving and providing access to France’s audiovisual history—has acquired a unique collection of footage shot between 2001 and 2009 by French-American documentarian Anne Aghion, during the production of her series of award- winning TV and feature films on post-genocide Rwanda. As part of the agreement, INA will provide a full copy of the footage to Aghion, for presentation to Iriba Center for Multimedia Heritage, an archival institution in Rwanda co-founded by the filmmaker.

INA will digitize and enhance the archive and provide global access to some 550 tapes, making up 350 hours of footage. The material was shot primarily in a single rural village, as the Rwandan government put in place the ―Gacaca, a system of community-based tribunals established to judge crimes dating to the 1994 genocide, which claimed 800,000 lives over the course of three months.

The archive is available here

Aghion’s footage is a unique documentation both of Rwandan history, and of a population in the throes of nearly a decade of social reconstruction. About one half of the collection comprises open-air trials, with the rest made up of one-on-one interviews of survivors, defendants and witnesses. Filmed outdoors, as well as in locations including a school and local lock-up, this material shows, for the first time, the long- term process of re-weaving a community’s social fabric after a cataclysm on the scale of the Rwandan genocide.

The footage is mainly in the Kinyarwanda language, as well as in English and French. The materials are fully translated into English, indexed to time codes every 10 to 15 seconds at most.

The agreement with Aghion is part of INA’s policy to expand its collection, and to engage in international cooperation for the preservation of audiovisual heritage. According to Michel Raynal, Deputy Director, Heritage Collections, ―These recordings, compiled with persistence, and made completely outside of the context of breaking news, contribute to the development of common memory. It is precisely within INA’s mission to collect, safeguard and provide access to this memory for new purposes, be they professional or scientific. Taking on this archive was an obvious decision.

Aghion is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2008, she released her feature film, ―Ice People,‖ co-produced by Arte and the Sundance Channel, which explores the personal and emotional challenges of scientists in the extreme environment of Antarctica.

ABOUT INA: INA, founded in 1974, gathers and preserves the images and sounds, which form the basis of our collective memory. It authenticates them, gives them meaning, and shares them as widely as possible through its collections and its expertise. The world's number one audiovisual centre for digital archiving and archive enhancement, INA has become the watchword for technical innovation in both these fields. Otherwise, since 2006, Ina is diversifying the means of transmission of its contents to the public: site Ina.fr, mobile, Connected TV, Video on Demand (VoD)... learn more:

For more information click here: and here:

The SAARF Board decided last year that an international audit of the TAMS panel was necessary to review the methodology, identify any possible shortcomings in the panel as well as areas of improvement and guide the planned multimillion-rand expansion of the panel.

In December 2012, the board appointed the CESP of France, a body that specialises in the audit of media audience surveys, to undertake the audit and the final report was presented to the board on 15 April 2013. The report identified shortcomings in the sampling, weighting and management of the TAMS panel that have led to low efficiencies.

During a three-hour session, the CESP auditors took the board of directors through its 70-page audit report. Based on its auditing verifications and analysis, the overall finding is that the methodology of the South African Television Measurement System corresponds to the international best practices on both establishment survey and TAM Panel and that it is comparable to similar TAMS in other countries.

However, the audit did also bring some serious issues to the fore that needs rectification.

Firstly, by design the current panel is imbalanced, with the over-sampling of DSTV and HD PVR households coupled with the under-sampling of the rural areas (mostly LSM 1-4) although this is corrected by the weighting. Everyone on the TAMS Council underestimated the impact of the unbundling of LSM 5 from the LSM 1-5 RIM Weight, causing a loss of LSM 5 audience to LSM 4. Users of the data had difficulty in understanding the effect of the newly aligned LSM groups and due to the under sample in LSM 1-4, instability in the LSM 1-4 audience was also experienced.

Secondly, the panel does not reflect the national profile of the TV viewing population closely enough. Although this is corrected by weighting, the efficiency of the RIM weighting is low but from the insights gained from the audit, this can be improved. The goal here would be to diminish the large range in weights in order to improve the weighting efficiency. This would work towards improving the audience fluctuations, which have been cause for concern amongst broadcasters and media buyers in particular.

Certain aspects of the panel such as the replacement of households that have been on the panel for more than 10 years will have to be addressed. The replacement of the Eurometers, which have been the backbone of the panel over many years, and the metering of multiple television sets in homes with more than one TV set were also raised as issues needing attention.

Other aspects, such as the downward trend in viewing, will need further investigation. The insights from the audit will also act as pointers in order to establish the reasons for this.

At the request of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the board has met with the TV broadcasters and the board has undertaken to address these shortcomings as speedily as possible and to take all corrective steps necessary to restore the integrity of the TAMS currency.

The board is in the process of engaging with the audit task team on its recommendations and proposed action plan. The audit report and action plan will be released to the wider industry for further consultation on Friday, 17 May 2013.

Due to the complexity of the measurement system, the testing and implementation of all the recommendations along with the further necessary investigations may take as long as a year to complete.

The panel is on the brink of the largest increase in its history in the number of households measured by TAMS. This increase will go a long way to help combat audience fragmentation and to meet other challenges, such as the measurement of time shifted viewing, the viewing of television on numerous other devices and platforms and provide a good framework for TV measurement after the rollout of DTT.

Wananchi Group-owned East African pay TV platform Zuku has added 11 new channels to its offering after striking a series of carriage deals.

The new channels include short movies service Shorts TV, the first time the channel has been available in Africa, and Hindi movie channel UTV Movies, which airs Bollywood blockbusters from UTV’s own library as well as other movie studios. Zuku is also adding own-branded channels Zuku Swahili Movies, which will air a wide range of East African movies subtitled in English to be accessible to non-Swahili speakers, and Zuku Movies Max HD, a new HD version of the existing Zuku Movies Max channel. Zuku is also launching a one-hour time-shifted version of Zuku Movies Max.

Other new channels on the plaform include Indian food channel Zee Khana Kazana from Zee TV and African music channel 1Music. The latter was already available on Zuku’s cable platform but has now been added to its satellite bouquet for the first time.

Zuku has also added two new sports channels: Setanta Action, which focuses primarily on combat and action sports, and its own Zuku Sport HD, an HD version of the Zuku Sports channel that includes programming from UK club TV services Arsenal TV and MUTV, as well as live motorsports and coverage of athletics, basketball, boxing and mixed martial arts.

Zuku is also adding news channels CCTV News from China Central Television and DW News from German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

From CCTV, Zuku will also carry documentary channel CCTV9 and general internet channel CCTV4. The latter is in Mandarin, with some programming subtitled in English.

Zuku has taken additional capcaity on the SES 5 satellite to accommodate the expansion of its platform.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the new portfolio of channels we are able to offer Zuku’s audiences. The spectrum of content acquired through these new carriage deals further reinforces our mandate to provide the market with excellent range, relevance and value for their money,” said Hannelie Bekker, managing director of Wananchi Programming.

The Communication Commission of Kenya is set to shut down seven more broadcast transmitters belonging to Royal Media Services, just months after another crackdown and an ongoing legal tussle.

The regulator put a public notice on unauthorised use of frequencies by Citizen TV in Nanyuki, Menengai hill, Narok, Maili nne in Nyahururu, Kilifi, Kitui and Mwingi.

CCK has given 30 days to the company to stop using the frequencies or it will take the measures at its disposal. Director general Francis Wangusi said on the phone the seven transmitters are new discoveries made in its recent audit.

"We will use our regulatory power to shut down these transmitters," he said. The self-allocated frequencies, according to Wangusi, are on the reserved guard bands. A guard band is an unused part of the radio/TV spectrum between allocated bands, for the purpose of preventing interference.

So even if RMS rightly applied for the frequencies, they are not available for allocation to any operator. According to the Kenya Information and Communications act, Cap 411A, operation of radio services without a licence is an offense that attracts a fine of Sh5 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both.

In February, the Commission switched off 17 unauthorised transmitters operated by RMS, seized equipment and sought from the office of Director of Public Prosecution to start criminal proceedings against the proprietor S.K. Macharia.

RMS moved to court to stop CCK from shutting down more frequencies, return the seized equipment and halt the criminal proceedings, but it lost the bid.

Justice Lydia Achode ruled that the commission had acted within the law in seizing the illegal transmitters. "We have the evidence against him, we are expecting the DPP to take them to court," Wangusi said.

This is not the first time, RMS and CCK are at loggerheads. CCK says between 2008 and 2012, RMS acquired 24 frequencies illegally which are still in operation because of a standing court injunction on it by RMS.

CCK adds earlier (2002- 2006) the company had grabbed 77 frequencies. These were regularised after government intervention. The annual fees for TV is Sh360,000 while for radio it is Sh136,000 for each frequency.

The Fifth SADC Digital Broadcasting Migration Forum took place on April 15-17, 2013 in Swakopmund, Namibia. The main objective was to review the implementation of the SADC Roadmap for Digital Broadcasting Migration in the SADC Member States and to address challenges in meeting the SADC Analogue Switch Off (ASO) deadline of December 31, 2013.

Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) of Namibia, Hon. Joel Kaapanda expressed his satisfaction that the SADC Region has made notable progress on the DTT migration and having been the first in Africa to: Set up a Regional Implementation Steering Committee, Establish the minimum specifications for low cost free-to-air (FTA) set top boxes (STBs) and Set up a DTT Project Management Office (PMO).

In her welcome address, SADC Senior Programme Officer for Information and Communication Technology (ICT),Mrs. Cecilia Mamelodi Onyadile, noted that SADC was the only Region in Africa that had developed a Regional DigitaLTerrestrial Television (DTT) Roadmap and appealed for continued support for the work of the SADC Secretariat.

The Forum discussed the issue of Digital Sound Broadcasting Standards and the 700 MHz Channeling Plan as requested by the SADC ICT Ministers in their meeting convened in November 2012 in Balaclava, Mauritius.

In general, Member States presentations on their status of the implementation of the SADC Roadmap indicated that they were at different stages of the DTT migration. While some Member States have recently made significant strides however, challenges were noted and this resulted in slow progress in the rollout of DTT. The Forum reviewed the pertinent issues of the Digital Dividend associated with the impending migration in particular the appreciation of the opportunities ushered by the Migration to DTT and made the following recommendations:

That a Progress Report capturing the status of Member States in the implementation of the SADC Roadmap prepared by the Forum be presented to the Ministers Meeting on the 23rd of May 2013 in Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho.
Member States are to duly complete the DTT PMO Questionnaire on the implementation status of the SADC Roadmap by 3rd May 2013.
Member States are to send their requests for technical assistance on DTT Broadcasting Migration from the DTT PMO to the SADC Secretariat by the 3rd May 2013.

SADC Member States are to duly complete the SADC Digital Dividend Frequency Spectrum Stock Taking (694-862 MHz) Form and submit the same before the 3rd May 2013.

The Forum received the status report on the operationalisation of SADC DTT PMO to be a special desk under the auspices of the SADC Secretariat with the primary objective to be the one-stop-shop for advice, co-ordination, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on the implementation of the SADC Roadmap for Digital Broadcasting Migration. It has been identified as an instrumental component of the institutional arrangement for the effective, successful and smooth implementation of DTT broadcasting in the Region and it will be manned by experts seconded from Angola, Botswana and South Africa. It will be responsible for assisting all SADC Member States to meet the SADC ASO deadline or the international deadline for DTT broadcasting migration.

The communications minister has told parliament that a government policy that mandated that set-top boxes support a control system for digital terrestrial television would be reviewed.

Communications minister Dina Pule surprised parliament on Tuesday, announcing that she’s decided to review the policy on the set-top box control system for digital terrestrial television so that its inclusion would no longer be mandatory.

The issue of set-top box control has delayed the roll-out of digital terrestrial television for a year. This is after e.tv took issue with a decision by the minister that state-owned Sentech would manage the control system. The free-to-air broadcaster took Pule’s decision on review to the high court, which found in its favour late last year.

Among other things, government wanted to use the control system to ensure that government-subsidised decoders were not resold outside the country.

Pule told parliament on Tuesday that the review of government’s position on the control system was “one way of fast-tracking the roll-out of digital terrestrial television”.

However, it was not immediately clear if this meant that the tender for the manufacture of subsidised set-top boxes would still make inclusion of a control system mandatory. Pule’s spokesman, Siya Qoza, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The minister had been waiting for e.tv and the SABC to put together a proposal of how they intended to manage the control system.

SA's sci-fi siren set to seduce Hollywood

A week after her latest novel, The Shining Girls, hit the Sunday Times Bestseller list in the UK, Lauren Beukes began negotiating film rights to the book.

This is on top of South African movie producer Helena Spring acquiring rights to Zoo City - Beukes' previous novel, which won the Arthur C Clarke and Kitschies Red Tentacle literary awards.

The Shining Girls centres on a time-travelling Depression-era drifter, Harper Curtis, who must murder the "shining girls" - bright young women who possess some alluring, but unnameable, quality that makes them burn with potential - in order to continue his travels.

Speaking about the film rights, Beukes said: "It's four offers on the table - plus three other inquiries, but they're very serious offers and we're hoping to close a deal very soon."

She added "Winning the Arthur C Clarke award for Zoo City put me on the map with big publishers.

"It helped to have a brilliant agent and a cool concept for the new book - all of which were factors in the perfect storm of the five-way bidding war over The Shining Girls at the Frankfurt Book Fair."

Joburg, Chicago, share similarities

Beukes, who has lived in Chicago, felt she knew the city well enough to use it as the primary location of The Shining Girls.

Besides, she noticed quite a few similarities between Chicago and Johannesburg, the city where she was born, including "government corruption, violent crime and segregation, but it's also an incredibly bright and vibrant city with amazing architecture and friendly people".

Setting the book in Joburg would have distorted the story, she said.

"It's a book about time travel and I was primarily interested in the 20th century.

"If I'd set it in South Africa, apartheid would have overwhelmed the story, when I wanted to talk about a lot of other things, from women's rights to the rise of the skyscraper, the loops and tangles of history - the issues that come up again and again."

Her next novel, Broken Monsters, will be set in Detroit.

The Shining Girls is published by Umuzi, Exclusive Books, R185.

Source: The Times/wikipedia, via I-Net Bridge, by Andile Ndlovu
17 May 2013.

Congratulations to the winners at SAMRA Conference 2013!

People’s Choice Award: Sangeeta Gupta and Andrew Vincent, for Insight Simplicity

Best First Time Speaker: Andries Noeth, for Real-time Measurement

Best Overall Paper:
Bronze – Neil Higgs, for Do We Have an Effect?
Silver – Vanessa Maritz, for Between Fact and Fiction
Gold – Andries Noeth, for Real-time Measurement

Thank you to all the presenters, the guests, the delegates, and the organisers for a wonderful conference! SAMRA was established in 1963 as a voluntary association of marketing researchers. The SAMRA Board, which consists of ten elected representative seats, manages SAMRA. There are four regional branches in South Africa based in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. Namibia also has a small branch.

Source: samra.co.za/

Academy award-winner Forest Whitaker turns in a solid performance as a cop searching for the murderer of a white teenager in the movie ‘Zulu’, a violent and often shocking portrayal of South African gang culture where traces of apartheid still linger.

An AFDA Johannesburg Honours (2012) student film won the Edge of Your Seat Audience Award for the best thriller at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth held in April in Seattle, Washington.