The 5th edition of Cape Winelands Film Festival (CWFF), which is scheduled to take place from 14-24 March 2012, in Cape Town and Stellenbosch, has launched its call for entries today. Feature films, Short Films and Documentaries submissions are eagerly awaited. Entry forms, rules, and regulations are available on the Festival Website(http://films-for-africa.co.za). 

• Features:
  Features are all fiction
  films more than 60 minutes of length
• Shorts:
  Shorts are all fiction films up to 15 minutes in length. However all
  fiction films between 16 to 59 minutes in length will also be considered under
  the shorts category.
• Animation:
  Animation are all non-live action films, including claymation, computer
  and standard animation; of all lengths
• Documentaries:
  Documentaries are all non-fiction films of all lengths

The Early Bird submission deadline is October 1st, 2011 and all entries till then are FREE. After that a normal 50 USD entry fee will be charged until the final deadline on 1st November 2011. Although the electronic submission form must be filled out and submitted by email to info@films-for-africa.co.za, applicants must also print the form, sign it, and include it in their Submission Package.

Cape Winelands Film Festival 2012, presented by Films for Africa and the City of Cape Town, and Cape Film Commission will screen approximately 180 films during the 10-day festival in Cape Town and the heart of South Africa's wine region Stellenbosch. The film selections will be posted on the festival's website in the second week of January 2012.

The 2011 festival received more than 740 submissions from 52 countries, though only 180 Feature films, documentaries and short films could be selected. Films without domestic theatrical distribution and films from first-time feature directors are especially welcomed.

The films will compete for the following awards:

• Grand Prix Jury Award
• Best Feature Film Award
• Best South African Feature Film
• Best Documentary Award
• Best South African Documentary
• Best Short Film Award
• Best South African Short Film
• Best Animation Award
• FIPRESCI Award
• NETPAC Award (discovery and promotion of Asian cinema)
• Inspiration Award (First time feature film directors)

CWFF serves as a platform for the discovery of new and emerging talent and we are devoted to the nurturing and development of new filmmakers and their cinematic vision. The feature competition programs presents a special award for first time directors working with limited budgets, thus enabling the Festival's mission to give exposure to emerging filmmaking talent.

CWFF also features workshops, Masterclasses and writing competitions for screenplays.

Leon vd Merwe
Festival Director
director@films-for-africa.co.za