The Festival, which will take place in London on February 2nd to 5th 2012, was developed to showcase South Africa as the emerging leader of African talent and is the brainchild of award-winning film director John Irvin and documentary filmmaker Claire Evans and will be attended by His Excellency, High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa, Dr Zola Skweyiya and South African born author, playwright and screen writer Sir Ronald Harwood.

The annual Festival, which will debut in the UK, will also travel to Washington D.C. and Los Angeles (USA) in the autumn of 2012. Designed to develop and promote new talent, the long-term goal of the organisation is to further enhance and build a sustainable film industry in South Africa by leveraging existing world-class talent, such as Oliver Hermanus and Teddy Mattera, whilst nurturing the country’s film artists of the future.

The Festival Chair, Ivan Fallon, former Chief Executive of Independent News & Media UK and INM in South Africa, (the largest newspaper publisher in the country). John Irvin, veteran director of such films as Hamburger Hill, Dogs of War, Ghost Story, A Month by The Lake and BBC Television’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy joins Fallon in the Management Team with Claire Evans, Irvin’s co-founding partner in their independent film production company, Dearheart Productions

Nashen Moodley will serve as Artistic Director and Head Programmer of The Festival. A graduate of the University of Natal, Moodley has written on film and culture for London’s Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Sunday Independent and GQ, and in South Africa for The Daily News, The Mercury, The Star, The Independent on Saturday and the Cape Argus. Presently, he works as the manager and head of programming at the Durban International Film Festival, and consults for the Dubai International Film Festival while overseeing the Muhr AsiaAfrica competition, among other film-related projects. The Inaugural 2012 award categories are:

• Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Arts
• Best Emerging Talent
• Best Documentary
• London critic award for Best Film
• Best Indigenous African Language Film
• Women in Film Award

The Festival will also offer two Scholarship Awards, each for a 2-year MA Degree course to study in London at the prestigious London Film School.

In addition, the festival looks to promote South African film talent, and to include the wide range of artistic mediums that encompass film making, such as design, music, visual art and dance/choreography. The founders of the Festival want to increase the visibility and viability of South Africa as a major film production region. The nation, which comes of age as it celebrates 18 years since Apartheid, is brimming with film making talent, world-class technical facilities and breath-taking locations. South Africa’s Ministry of Arts and Culture is already a global host to international conferences and film festivals. The Golden Rhino Festival seeks to further promote the nation’s film making profile via the London and US events.

The Saturday night event will feature The Glasser Quartet featuring Pinise Saul (legendary South African vocalist) and a special appearance by Eugene Skeef. Dance from the company of former Prima Ballerina Corrine Bougaard, Union Dance and a screening of Cry the Beloved Country introduced by the film’s Oscar winning screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood.

For further information head over to http://www.thegoldenrhino.co.uk/ or contact David Mark david@thegoldenrhino.org or Claire Evans claire@thegoldenrhino.org