The second annual Mercedes-Benz Bokeh South African International Fashion Film Festival held at the stylish 15 on Orange Hotel in Cape Town, culminated in a "Oscar style" awards evening.
South African filmmaker, Aidan Whytock, proudly accepted the Mercedes-Benz Award for 'The Choice' together with the prize money of US$ 10,000, in front of enthusiastic crowd of celebrities, VIPs and fashionistas.
"This award is presented in recognition of an uncompromising pursuit of quality, passionate design and creative innovation," said Selvin Govender, Marketing Director, Mercedes-Benz Cars.
The two day fashion and film extravaganza, founded and owned by film-maker Adrian Lazarus provided a focused platform for both local and international up and coming talent to showcase their fashion films and design in conjunction with pop-up retail outlets and focused industry talks. The event attracted the very best in South African fashion talent with greats such as Hendrik Vermeulen, Adriaan Kuiters and Jenevieve Lyons to name a few and each design house showcasing unique collections while some also featured fashion forward installations.
Mercedes-Benz, headline sponsor of the event holds an established international alignment with the fashion industry as a central component of their lifestyle marketing activities, and Selvin Govender affirmed their commitment:
"We are extremely pleased with the overwhelming success of the second Mercedes-Benz Bokeh International South African Fashion Festival. Being the title sponsor of this exciting event has created a unique interactive sensory platform for us to share our brand values and simultaneously offer the South African fashion and film industry the international recognition that they so richly deserve."
Following on from the success of the first event in 2014, the festival has again attracted the commitment of the Cape Town Fashion Council with CEO Brian Ramkilawan affirming, "The Mercedes-Benz Bokeh International South African Fashion Film Festival is now an established annual event that showcases our immense local fashion talent to the world and is contributing towards developing the fashion industry in this country."
All the films submitted for the festival were assessed by a panel of esteemed local and international judges, with 52 finalists nominated across various categories with their films showcased over the two nights of screenings during the festival.
Winners on the night included:
Best Actress - Purgatory of Monotony - Sonja Kinski
Best Actor - 206 with David Oyelowo - Contentmode x J. Cooper
Best Hair and Make-Up - Perfidia - Raul Rosillo
Best Fashion - Etro - The Encounter - Valentina BeÃ
Best Art Direction - Risky Dancing - Kuba Lubniewski
Best Music and Sound: Love ZA Buy ZA - The good Dress - Shoestring productions
Best Cinematography - The Legend of Shalimar
Best Director - The Legend of Shalimar - Bruno Aveillan
Best Picture - Kiss of a Siren - Viktorija Pashuta & Miguel Guthier
Mercedes-Benz Award - The Choice - Aidan Whytock
The Mercedes-Benz Award and US$ 10,000 was awarded to Aidan Whytock by Marketing Director, Selvin Govender.
In conclusion, event director Adrian Lazarus said, "I am so grateful to our sponsors and partners for investing in our dream and our events team in making it a reality. Only in its second year now, the Mercedes-Benz Bokeh South African International Fashion Film Festival now comfortably shares the stage with global film festivals the likes of New York, London, Berlin, Madrid and La Jolla. This event also proudly positions Cape Town as the creative fashion hub of sub-Saharan Africa."
South African filmmaker, Aidan Whytock, proudly accepted the Mercedes-Benz Award for 'The Choice' together with the prize money of US$ 10,000, in front of enthusiastic crowd of celebrities, VIPs and fashionistas.
"This award is presented in recognition of an uncompromising pursuit of quality, passionate design and creative innovation," said Selvin Govender, Marketing Director, Mercedes-Benz Cars.
The two day fashion and film extravaganza, founded and owned by film-maker Adrian Lazarus provided a focused platform for both local and international up and coming talent to showcase their fashion films and design in conjunction with pop-up retail outlets and focused industry talks. The event attracted the very best in South African fashion talent with greats such as Hendrik Vermeulen, Adriaan Kuiters and Jenevieve Lyons to name a few and each design house showcasing unique collections while some also featured fashion forward installations.
Mercedes-Benz, headline sponsor of the event holds an established international alignment with the fashion industry as a central component of their lifestyle marketing activities, and Selvin Govender affirmed their commitment:
"We are extremely pleased with the overwhelming success of the second Mercedes-Benz Bokeh International South African Fashion Festival. Being the title sponsor of this exciting event has created a unique interactive sensory platform for us to share our brand values and simultaneously offer the South African fashion and film industry the international recognition that they so richly deserve."
Following on from the success of the first event in 2014, the festival has again attracted the commitment of the Cape Town Fashion Council with CEO Brian Ramkilawan affirming, "The Mercedes-Benz Bokeh International South African Fashion Film Festival is now an established annual event that showcases our immense local fashion talent to the world and is contributing towards developing the fashion industry in this country."
All the films submitted for the festival were assessed by a panel of esteemed local and international judges, with 52 finalists nominated across various categories with their films showcased over the two nights of screenings during the festival.
Winners on the night included:
Best Actress - Purgatory of Monotony - Sonja Kinski
Best Actor - 206 with David Oyelowo - Contentmode x J. Cooper
Best Hair and Make-Up - Perfidia - Raul Rosillo
Best Fashion - Etro - The Encounter - Valentina BeÃ
Best Art Direction - Risky Dancing - Kuba Lubniewski
Best Music and Sound: Love ZA Buy ZA - The good Dress - Shoestring productions
Best Cinematography - The Legend of Shalimar
Best Director - The Legend of Shalimar - Bruno Aveillan
Best Picture - Kiss of a Siren - Viktorija Pashuta & Miguel Guthier
Mercedes-Benz Award - The Choice - Aidan Whytock
The Mercedes-Benz Award and US$ 10,000 was awarded to Aidan Whytock by Marketing Director, Selvin Govender.
In conclusion, event director Adrian Lazarus said, "I am so grateful to our sponsors and partners for investing in our dream and our events team in making it a reality. Only in its second year now, the Mercedes-Benz Bokeh South African International Fashion Film Festival now comfortably shares the stage with global film festivals the likes of New York, London, Berlin, Madrid and La Jolla. This event also proudly positions Cape Town as the creative fashion hub of sub-Saharan Africa."
