International Tourism Film Festival Africa opens submissions for their international event. Picture: CineDirektor FILMS from Pexels
The International Tourism Film Festival Africa (ITFFA) has opened entries for the international version of their event. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2021.
Despite the pandemic, last year saw over 900 entries from 92 countries.
The ITFFA, founded in 2019, is hosted in proud cooperation with the International Tourism Film Festivals Committee (CIFFT).
CIFFT’s partnership with the ITFFA is their first official backing of such an event on the African continent.
Their core mission has been to reward excellence in travel video marketing by encouraging tourism destinations to achieve excellence in promoting their products, services, and locations through digital storytelling.
CIFFT Director Alexander V Kammel said more than 3500 films compete each year for the title of the World’s Best Tourism Films.
"African countries are underrepresented. It is time to show that Africa is full of talented men and women to be presented to the global creative community. This is why CIFFT strongly supports the ITFFA initiative," said Kammel.
Co-director of the ITFFA James Byrne said they are thrilled to showcase the best of Africa’s digital tourism marketing content on the global stage.
ITFFA co-founder Caroline Ungersbock added: “When films are produced in our country, they utilise not only tourism services and related products, but the locations that are used during filming, whether it be for advertising purposes, documentaries or features, are then exposed to both national and international markets that either want to come on vacation, shoot their next production, document their next conservation piece, or shoot their advert.”
ITFFA is further supported by two new promotional partners; Lifetree Marketing & Media and DurbanTV.
Saskia Brown, co-owner of Lifetree Marketing & Media, said it is time to wanderlust again. "We look forward to working with our innovative partners to encourage hopeful travellers to explore our continent again, starting with a digital journey”.
Doreen Theys, founder and executive producer of DurbanTV, added that the initiative will showcase the high quality and innovative digital work produced on the African continent.
A panel of local and international professionals and celebrities from the Tourism, Marketing and Film Industry will evaluate the works submitted based on impact, creativity, style, subject matter, storytelling and goal effectiveness.