South Africa's Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) develops, promotes and coordinates the film and television production industry in what is said to be South Africa's wealthiest province, tasked with positioning the province as a world-class destination for filmmaking, as well as attracting local and international investments in the film and television industry there.

We started covering the films that the Commission supports last year, and will continue to do so this year. It's just another way for us to discover upcoming films of the Diaspora that deserve your attention.

The Gauteng Film Commission recently announced the film projects it supported in the 2012/13 fiscal year, and also bid farewell to Gauteng filmmakers who are taking part in the Berlin International Film Festival this month. 

Screen Africa has the exclusive on the annoucement of those newly-supported projects, which are listed below:

– SA Music Journey (a documentary by drummer, composer and arranger Vusi Khumalo);

– Berea (a short film produced by Puo Pha Productions);

– Holy Man (a feature length documentary by Blue Marble Production about Muslim leader Sheik Yusuf of Massakaar);

– Garden of Hope (a five-minute documentary about urban sustainability);

– My Zulu Wedding (a feature film produced by Luju Pictures and Productions about a young maiden in search of her true self);

– Cooking with Azania (a food lifestyle programme licensed by SABC3 and produced by Azania Mosaka);

– Gang Star (a story about three men and one woman on a quest for redemption);

– Security (a 15-minute short film produced by Mannequi, selected as part of the prestigious Focus Features Africa First Competition).

Screen Africa adds that, in addition to the film projects, the GFC announced its support of three audience development projects:

– Kasi Movie Nights (KMN), a distribution platform that distributes South African content across the country in the form of monthly screenings from a truck.

– Bioscope at 20h00, which aims to encourage appreciation of local content through monthly screenings, and the popular long-running First Wednesday Film Club (FWFC), a casual networking forum and platform for exposure of African films, held on every first Wednesday of the month at Atlas Studios in Johannesburg.

The announcement was made at a function held at the Crowne Plaza Rosebank Hotel in Johannesburg.

I'm waiting for the full press release from the GFC to learn more about the film projects specifically, so expect some individual highlights when I know more. Google searches didn't tell me much of any use.

I should note that these public announcements are part of a plan by the Commission to create necessary awareness about its programs and ensuring brand visibility – not-so unlike all the other similar programs who announce projects that they're supporting, which we cover here as well.