The very first Cape Winelands Film Festival will take place in Stellenbosch from 18 - 26 April.

According to Festival directors Leon Van der Merwe and Karen Meiring, there will be 92 films screened at the festival. The Oude Libertas Amphitheatre will serve as the Festival centre but films will also be screened at 6 other venues in Stellenbosch which include The Ikaya Trust centre in Kayamandi, JC Le Roux Auditorium, HB Thom Theatre, Protea Cinemas in the Neelsie and the Protea Hotel Dorpshuis.

The Cape Winelands Festival is presented in association with MNET and the French Embassy. In the words of director, Leon van der Merwe: "We do not just want to give a window on world cinema, but we also want to promote, generate and stimulate audiences for film in South Africa."

Well known artists at the festival include the Taiwanese film director, Huang Yu-shan, die Brazilian film director Sandra Kogut, whose film Mutum will be screened at the Festival. A Great scoop is the presence of the South African born director Heinrich Dahms who became known after his film, Dune Surfer (1988). His latest film, Overleven, will be screened.

The festival programme include films in the following catagories:
World Cinema: 'As it is in heaven' (Sweden), 'Room to Rent' (Egypt), 'Mutum' from Brazil.
Eco Cinema: A documentary about the great Cape fire appedly named 'Mountain of Ashes', and an Afrikaans documentary 'Medisynesak'.
Music in Film: 'La Vie en Rose', 'La France'.
Food on Film: The Feast.
Cinema of Conscience: Oscar-winning documentary, 'Taxi to the Darkside' as well as an Oscar nominated documentary 'Vote for Me'.
South African premiéres: 'At Thy Call' by Christopher Lee dos Santos, ''n Roos vir Mari' by Louis du Toit.
Films from a specific country: this year the focus is on France.

Film makers will also compete for the Cape Winelands World Cinema Award, the Cape Winelands Documentary Award and Cape Winelands Short film Award and lastly the audience award.

This year the film festival also commemorates the life of film- and theatre director Ingmar Bergman, who recently passed away at the age of 89. The Bergman films that will be showcased are: 'Saraband', 'Fanny and Alexander', 'Smiles of a Summer Night', 'Wild Strawberries' and 'Persona'.

The films will be screened in the following venues: The Neelsie's two Protea Cinemas, the Protea Hotel Dorpshuis, the JC le Roux Auditorium, the HB Thom-theatre, the Ikaya Trust Centre in Kayamandi and the Oude Libertas Amphitheatre and Auditorium.

For programme detail visit www.films-for-africa.co.za or www.oudelibertas.net

Bookings can be made at Computicket. For enquiries contact Jana Hattingh on 021 809 7380 or jana@oudelibertas.net