Rusana Philander

Wednesday evening saw the opening of the 5th Cape Winelands Film Festival, the biggest in the Western Cape.

The festival will run until March 24 in Cape Town and Stellenbosch. The opening night was hosted by the mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille, and Wesgro.

De Lille said the festival was an extraordinary celebration of talent, performance art and the rich cultural diversity typical of South Africa in general and Cape Town in particular.

“This festival is a testament to the rich and varied cultures that are celebrated within the city of Cape Town,” she said.

The film festival will play host to 43 filmmakers from around the world – 29 of whom are South African – and eight international jury members. Former Miss South Africa Margaret Gardiner is also expected to attend the festival as a representative of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Leon van der Merwe, the festival director, said: “This festival celebrates and champions the best of South African and international cinema.

“The rich selection of our outstanding features, documentaries and shorts, include many films which attempt to create a better understanding between human beings.”

Later in the evening, Lucky was shown. The film, directed by Avie Luthra, is about a young boy named Lucky, who leaves his village for the big city after his mother dies.

He arrives in the city hoping to stay with his uncle while he goes to school, but his uncle chases him away.

An elderly Indian woman, whom he later calls gogo (grandmother), takes him in and helps him to find his father.

rusanap@thenewage.co.za