South African film “Vaya” is set to fly the South African flag high when it is screened at the prestigious 67th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany.

The film weaves together the stories of three strangers bound together by a shared destiny. It is the latest local film to be featured at the festival and follows Shepherds and Butchers, which screened there last year. Vaya is directed by award-winning Akin Omotoso and stars Mary Twala, Zimkhitha Nyoka, Sihle Xaba and Warren Masemola.

The film's producer and writer, Robbie Thorpe, said he and Omotoso would fly to Berlin to introduce the film. He said it was an honour to represent the country on the global stage. "To be selected for the Berlin Film Festival is a great honour. "The festival is, in terms of the business of films, in the top four or five film festivals in the world.

It brings together some of the world's most important players in the film industry. So, for our film to be shown on such a prestigious platform is humbling." The film, which took eight years to make, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September last year.

Thorpe said he was pleased with the reception it received there and was hoping to have similar success in Berlin. "The film got an incredible response at the Toronto Film Festival. We had three sold-out screenings in massive cinemas and our director Akin was signed by a Hollywood agency because they had seen the film.

We hope that a similar audience will enjoy the film this time," Thorpe said. The festival will also feature South African director John Trengove's film The Wound, which last month made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, in the United States. The Berlin Film Festival will run from 9 to 19 February. Vaya is expected to be released to local cinemas later this year. – Source: www.timeslive.co.za ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙

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