Hosted through the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of DAC, the BRICS Film Festival is aimed at celebrating world-class film productions from the BRICS countries, with the objective of inspiring more collaborations from these nations. The format of the festival consists of screening two feature films from each country in the competition category and three feature films in the non-competition category. A total of 25 films will be screened during the duration of the festival.

The films in competition will compete for the Golden Rhino Award, inspired by the history behind the golden rhino that was discovered in Mapungubwe, the significance of the place, and the linkages with other countries in earlier centuries.

The Third BRICS Film Festival will recognise the following categories: Best Film, Best Producer/s, Best Director, Best Scriptwriter/Screenplay writer, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editor, Best Cinematography/Director of Photography, Best Composer/Music, as well as a special Jury Award.

“The Department of Arts and Culture is resolute in working towards the elevation of the cultural industries and we see the audio-visual sector as an important platform from which to continue the efforts of looking forward to harnessing the knowledge and experiences generated by this festival”, stated the Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa.

The opening night films honoured Nelson Mandela’s centenary. The films were five, five-minute short films produced by the respective countries under the facilitation of a South African production company, Via-Vollenhoven and Appollis Independent. The theme for the short films was, “Mandela”, and the film from each country reflected the uniqueness of the country, as well as how each member country related to Nelson Mandela and the impact he had through leadership, politics, humanity, culture and unity.