Bay in line to get major film festival

IT WAS very much a case of "watch this space" at the City Hall in Nelson Mandela Bay yesterday where Eastern Cape provincial and local authorities jointly announced the establishment of an international film festival to be hosted in Port Elizabeth.

The announcement was made at a briefing attended by Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Mcebisi Jonas, Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Chippa Ngcolomba and Luxolo Rubushe, who is the chief executive of the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Department.

While the briefing invite specified that: "Details of the inaugural Mandela International Film Festival will be revealed", no actual details other than the overall object of the festival – which is to reposition the Bay as a global city – were announced.

The project, a joint initiative between local and provincial government, is directed at playing a role in turnaround strategies for the region which is battling with slow economic growth.

While the officials acknowledged the announcement was a teaser, Jonas said that talks were under way with international players and specifics around the project would be made available at a launch for the festival. The date has not yet been decided.

The three speakers said the festival had been identified as a signature event which would assist in putting the Bay on the global map.

"Nobody says we are going to America or to the States or to France, they say we are going to New York or Chicago or to Paris," Jonas said.

He said his department had been investigating turnaround strategies for the two metropolitan municipalities in the Eastern Cape – Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City – for the past 18 months because the Category A municipalities had been recognised as the engines of economic growth in the province.

Ngcolomba supported the call for an economic boost and the directive that Nelson Mandela Bay should become a "vibey city", saying that a 24-hour city concept was one of the recent resolutions adopted by the ANC.

"We acknowledge this important announcement by the MEC and would like to see that we reach the milestones as we continue with our developmental agenda. I am sure that the Nelson Mandela Bay community will be excited about our plans as well," he said. -Shaun Gillham