Julie Coghlan of Gecko said that the BASA Awards show specific recognition of commitment to sustainable development of the arts. "It is as a result of MultiChoice Africa's outstanding investment in the development of the film industry and the careers of aspirant filmmakers through the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards, that the Long Term Development category was the appropriate positioning. It is also recognition of the role of the film industry in the Western Cape that a national competition with an important corporate social investment element is run from a Cape based company." Coghlan remarked.
The Long Term Development category is designed to recognise companies that have not only committed to but developed sponsorship of an arts organisation or project over three or more years. The judges evaluated the success of the sponsorships in achieving the objective of the sponsor, and in bringing genuine benefits to the arts. Nicola Danby from BASA ,pointed out that "the Long Term Development award recognises a company that has significantly developed or expanded its commitment to a project of programme over the long term. This demonstrates how effective sustained partnerships can be for both parties."
She added: "The sponsorship demonstrated how MultiChoice Africa could build its core business while facilitating the training of aspirant filmmakers and developing technical expertise and fostering creative ingenuity; in addition, this sponsorship had a clear corporate social investment angle in giving charities and NGO's a platform to promote themselves, their mission and their work.'
The VUKA! Awards, now in their 6th year, have grown from strength to strength and each year has seen significant increases in entrants. And this year to further widen the catchment area, MCAF has gone into partnership with the Department of Labour and the National Film & Video Foundation to give a hundred disadvantaged black participants an opportunity to attend a film skills development programme from June to September. Included in the programme are relevant training courses, mentorship and a requirement to complete a MultiChoice VUKA! Award entry.
Gecko Communications
