Welcome has picked up two awards at the 30th Durban International Film Festival, which closed August 2.
Firat Ayverdi, who traveled to the South African city with Unifrance, won the Best Actor award, while Philippe Lioret was voted Best Director.
For its 30th edition, the festival threw the spotlight on French films with its Focus section showcasing some twenty French productions and co-productions, including Entre les murs (The Class), Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel), Il Divo, and Le Silence de Lorna (Lorna’s Silence).
South Africa’s two major distributors, Nu Metro Film Distribution (Warner Nu Metro) and Videovision Entertainment, took advantage of the event to promote a number of French titles, including Coco avant Chanel, London River, and Looking for Eric.
Around fifteen French films are released in South Africa each year, with attendance figures in 2008 reaching 585,000 moviegoers.
