Onwards and upwards! The Bokeh South Africa International Fashion Film Festival 2018 is prepped and ready to take you on a magic rollercoaster ride into the world of fashion film and glamour like never before! The prestigious festival, now in its fifth successful year, is charged and ready to get pulses racing with a host of new activities and international sponsors, culminating in the two prestigious Oscar-style red-carpet gala events to be held consecutively in both Johannesburg and Cape Town for the first time next year.
“The Festival has grown each year in size and scope and we can confidently say that our local South African production is now the premier global Fashion Film Festival, attracting a host of new best-of-breed partners and entrants from around the world. We are proud to announce that Pernod Ricard has recently aligned with us through Jameson Irish Whisky, as have the iconic Napa Valley winery, Sterling Vineyards, who have been the exclusive wine partner at the Oscars for more than 10 years, as well as US media powerhouse FNL Network, who broadcast to over 60-million viewers,” enthused Adrian Lazarus, Founder and Managing Director of the Mercedes-Benz Bokeh South Africa International Fashion Film Festival.
The evolution of the Festival now incorporates a series of structured monthly showcase events across SA, leading up to the gala events in April 2018. During these events, SA’s top local fashion film-making talent will be presented alongside international filmmakers in collaboration with the Bokeh partners. These ‘mini-festivals’ will deliver high level interaction between industry insiders, invited guests, VIPs, film makers, fashion designers, media and invited Bokeh fans for the full multi-sensory ‘Bokeh experience’. The annual calendar of events will create an innovative activation platform showcasing the aligned brand partners’ new products and, of course, the latest fashion film submissions from around the world. The events will also feature as an opportunity to create desirable marketing content which will be shared across all platforms and drive the Bokeh Fashion Film message to its fast-growing global audience.
Selvin Govender, Marketing Director of Mercedes-Benz Cars, comments: “Mercedes-Benz has proudly been aligned to the Bokeh South Africa International Fashion Film Festival since inception, as the official vehicle sponsor, and we share the same values of precision, performance, and innovation, and the Festival offers us a sensory rich engagement platform to present these core values to a desirable and growing audience.”
The 10 planned hub events are all part of the lead-up to the ultimate grand finale in 2018, where two spectacular gala events will be hosted in Cape Town and Joburg, one week apart. These two spotlight events will comprise of an invited industry meet-and-greet on the Thursday evening, followed by a director’s daytime viewing experience on the Friday. In addition to viewing the chosen fashion films, guests will experience festival master classes, makeup expos as well as industry talks and presentations from top international guest speakers and leading industry professionals. The lead-up events all culminate with the glamorous Oscar-style red-carpet awards shows on 6 and 7 April 2018 in Cape Town, and 13 and 14 April 2018 in Johannesburg.
“Jameson Irish Whiskey is proud to partner with the Bokeh Fashion Film Festival as part of our continued support within the film community. We felt an alignment to the fearless nature and innovative execution presented by these highly talented filmmakers who express their individuality and reflect their craft without boundaries,” says Daryl Dixon, Jameson Whiskey Marketing Manager.
Social media is the all-powerful global communication tool that never sleeps, so keep your eyes peeled as this year features an always-on daily social media feed across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@bokehfff). These channels will publish news, upcoming events, times, new products, featured fans (bloggers, lifestyle media and personalities) and their interaction with our partners’ products and brands, competitions, new film fashion and trends, as well as pics and news from upcoming and past social events on the Bokeh calendar.
The name Carrol Boyes immediately brings to mind cutting-edge design in pure homeware. Aptly termed Functional Art, it is these iconic sculptures that will be the beautiful awards for the category winners at the 2018 Bokeh Fashion Film Festival. “The creative collaboration between Fashion Film and Functional Art is revolutionary and we are delighted and honored to once again be a part of such an internationally acclaimed festival,” comments Taniya Miller, Account Executive at Carrol Boyes.
The festival’s aim of acknowledging and rewarding upcoming fashion and film talent is set to have more impact and reach than ever, having recently concluded a media deal with FNL media group in the USA, adding $30-million in broadcast value to the existing R60-million coverage generated by the partnership with Luxury Brands for the aligned brands during 2017. The FNL Network is broadcast in the USA to more than 60-million viewers, including those now deployed by cable operators such as Comcast, Charter and DirecTV, Film On TV and shortly, they will also be launching on Amazon Prime.
