Cape Town - The International Tourism Film Festival Africa Awards (ITFFA) took place at Cape Town City Hall to honour the best tourism films and documentaries from across the world, in the Doc & TV, Tourism International and Tourism Africa sections.
The ITFFA celebrated winners from around the globe and there were awards for silver, gold and grand prix winners in the respective categories.
James Byrne, the co-director of the festival, said it was a chance to showcase some of tourism’s finest storytelling and that the objective was to carry messages of hope and encouragement.
Some of the big Cape Town winners included the Saving Seals short film in the Doc & TV section, and gold awards for the Remembering Cape Town short film in the Tourism City Destination section.
The Saving Seals short film, produced by photographer Steve Benjamin, explores the history of the seal disentanglement programme at the V&A Waterfront and the new technology that enables seals that cannot be helped through other means to be reached and disentangled.
"I am extremely honoured and grateful. I'm happy to have the exposure and that people can learn about the seals and the Two Oceans Aquarium and the work that they do."
The Remembering Cape Town short film showcases some of the most iconic tourist attractions that Cape Town has to offer, including Table Mountain, the V&A Waterfront, iconic beaches, wine farms and so much more.
Among the international winners were audiovisual productions from Australia, Austria, Croatia, Fiji, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain and Uganda.
“The City of Cape Town is proud to have sponsored the ITFFA in Cape Town and to be associated with such a prestigious event. We are especially excited about the youth programme that was introduced, giving young entrepreneurs an opportunity to express their creativity and create destination footage which can be considered for future marketing efforts,“ said Theuns Vivian from the City of Cape Town.
The festival was organised in cooperation with the International Committee of Tourism Film Festival and in conjunction with the City of Cape Town.