(Nonhle Mbuthuma appears in “The Shore Break”)
Ryley Grunenwald’s The Shore Break, has won the prestigious
Backsberg Audience Choice Award at Encounters South African International
Documentary Festival for Best South African Film. The award-winning documentary
film follows the dilemma faced by a rural community on South Africa’s Wild
Coast as to whether to support or resist a proposed titanium mining project and
a national tolled highway.
Grunenwald says she
is thrilled with the accolade. “Both my co-producer Odette Geldenhuys and I are
really pleased about the win. The Shore
Break was a labour of love so it is very rewarding to know it is well
received by South African audiences. It was an important story to tell because
it captures the nuance and complexity around issues of developing the Wild
Coast. The story follows two Pondo cousins who have opposing dreams for the
future of their land. One wants to preserve the land through sustainable
development while the other plans to mine it for titanium, believing large
scale development is the only way to improve employment opportunities.”
Odette Geldenhuys adds:
“The audience award is based on a complicated calculation in which the festival
takes into account the capacity of the cinemas, numbers of tickets sold and the
votes cast. The film captured the imagination of festival goers, so much so
that all our five scheduled screenings were sold out and we had to have two
additional screenings in Cape Town and Johannesburg.”
Backsberg Estate
Cellars CEO Simon Back adds, “It is a great honour for us to sponsor the Audience
Choice Awards. The aim of the awards is to raise awareness around the festival
and what has resonated with audiences. With sustainability being core to the
way we run our winery, I am also thrilled that both winners raise awareness
around critical environmental matters.”
The Shore Break, which was a project in the 2013 Durban
FilmMart, will have its co-premiere at the 36th Durban International Film
Festival (DIFF) on July 18, 2015 with four screenings only during the festival.
For more information go to www.theshorebreakmovie.com
The Durban
International Film Festival runs from July 16 to 26. For more information visit
www.durbanfilmfestival.co.za
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