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Byron Bay Film Festival in Australia opened its annual festival to international submissions this year and announced the Heartlines feature film among competition winners on Saturday March 8th 2008 at a Gala Event sponsored by the SAE Institute. The Byron Bay Festival features over 100 films from 24 different countries and the Heartlines film was honored with the 2008 Best Dramatic Feature Award.
Since completing production in June 2006 and screening locally on SABC, the Heartlines film has been invited to screen worldwide entertaining audiences as far as Japan, Poland, Bahamas, Venezuela and the United States. Produced by Mariki Pretorius and directed by Angus Gibson, the Heartlines film is a compelling story about second chances and explores the courage for individuals to accept, forgive and trust again in the face of challenges and disappointments. The universal message of the film is resonating with global audiences as the film has received awards in five countries on four continents. These include New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival winner of a Special Recognition Award, Houston World Fest winner of a Remi Creative Award, Durban Film Festival winner of Best South African Feature Film, Baja California Film Festival in Tiajuana, Mexico winner of Best Feature Film, Skip City International Digital-Cinema Festival in Japan winner of the Special Jury Sony Digital Cinema Award and the most recent Best Dramatic Feature in Byron Bay, Australia.
Byron Bay Film Festival Director J’aimee Skippon-Volke remarked, “Heartlines was a highlight of the festival. It was apparent to me instantly that it was a film which was going to be a perfect fit for our audience and our festival.” Additionally Byron Bay Festival judge Jon Dalgaard from Lionsgate Films said, “Loved this film. Emotionally affecting and extremely well crafted with some great central performances. A really good choice for the festival.”
Curious Pictures originally created the Heartlines film as part of a larger communication initiative for the Mass Media Project. Supported by FNB, The Heartlines campaign – with the tag line 8 films, 8 values, one national conversation were broadcast on all three national stations and were seen by millions of viewers. One of the films – Heartlines, is feature-length and shot on High Definition Video.
Curious Pictures is privileged to add the Byron Bay Best Dramatic Feature to the local and international awards the Heartlines film has received. The growing acknowledgements for the technical and dramatic merits of the film validate Curious Pictures’ continuing vigilance to raising the bar in the film and television industry in South Africa.
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