The Centre for Film and Media Studies - UCT

How will SEO affect your future career? In this seminar, presented by Simon Wilkes (@simonatsipmedia ), MD of SIP Media ( @sipmediasolutions ), Simon will explain how people who go into the field of Journalism and Content Creation need to understand how SEO is used and how it is going to affect their career. In addition to helping us navigate SEO, he will explain internship placement opportunities at his company, SIP Media, for current UCT students and graduates, and present his company's online platform for students to showcase their work. 📅 Thursday, 21 May 🕐 13h00 to 14h00 📍 AC Jordan, 4A

Join us on Tuesday, 19th May for a gameplay and discussion of Nyamakop’s latest game, Relooted (2026). Relooted is an action-platformer with Afro-futurist themes where the players goal is to reclaim cultural African artefacts from Western museums. We’ll use this session not only to explore the game, but have a discussion led by CFMS lecturer Dr Danielle Becker on digital displays of reparation. Playing Relooted poses the question: are we witnessing material justice, or the illusion of it? Date: Tuesday, 19th May Time: 14:00-16:00 Venue: DMS Lab (AC Jordan A17) Hybrid link available via the QR code on the attached poster.

⚖️ Storytelling that shifts justice Enver Samuel is an award-winning director and producer whose work revisits unresolved cases from South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 🎥🇿🇦 His films on Ahmed Timol and Dulcie September helped reignite national conversations and calls for justice. ✊🏾🔥 In this course, you’ll explore how storytelling can challenge systems, confront injustice and demand accountability. 📢⚡ ⏳ Applications Deadline: 15 May 2026, 17H00 (SAST) Final week to join → Link in bio! #SunshineCinema #ImpactFacilitatorCourse #JusticeStorytelling #SocialJustice #DocumentaryFilm #FilmForChange #ImpactStorytelling #AfricanCinema #TruthAndReconciliation #StorytellingForChange 🎬

What a night at the Shotties! @uct_filmsoc held their annual Shotties Film Festival at @thelabia on Friday night, and it was an amazing success! Packed cinema, amazing films, and astoundig people - what more could you ask for? Special guest judges Dr Julia Cain and Masters of Documentsry Arts candidates, Maganthrie Pillay and Mandla Zilwa had some tough choices to make - the quality was next level! Huge congrats to all who organised and attended in making this a night to remember!

Kaaps Woriboek ready for launch! Join UCT’s Centre for Film & Media Studies (CFMS) and the School Education (SoE) for the launch of the Kaaps Woriboek on Friday, 15 May, at 15h00 in the newly renovated staff room in CFMS (AC Jordan’s second floor). The Kaaps Woriboek is a project of the Society for the Advancement of Kaaps (https://sakaaps.co.za/) and the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research (CMDR, UWC) in collaboration with Heal the Hood Project, Prof H. Samy Alim (UCLA), Dr Theo(dore) Rodrigues (UNISA) and Prof Adam Haupt (CFMS, UCT). 📆 Friday, 15 May 🕑 15h00 📍CFMS Staff Room, AC Jordan, Upper Campus Our panellists will discuss the new dictionary’s launch not long after UCT’s decision to make Kaaps a language of development. These developments take place in a climate where educators have begun to acknowledge the value of multilingual education, not least because many scholars are committed to decolonial approaches to teaching and learning. Can't make it in person? Scanthe QR code to join the live stream, courtesy of Prof Tanja Bosch’s Digital Media Sociology Lab @dms_lab_uct RSVP: [email protected]

Moved online due to severe weather! Climate Leadership for Just Transition Join us this Tuesday at out staff seminar for a special presentation by @fossilfreesa 📆 Tuesday, 12 May 🕑 13h00 to 14h00 📍 Scan the QR code or see link in story Can't make it in person? Scan the QR code to join online Universities should be pillars of Climate leadership. Fossil Free SA emerged from the 9 year campaign with over 5000 signatures from staff and students culminating in UCT's 2022 commitment to fossil fuel divestment (a prudent financial strategy and condition of moral authority on the climate emergency). What has happened since this commitment? What principles can UCT embrace to lead the way for climate action and a just energy transition in Africa? And, how can staff be part of this?  Universities are the institutions that lead most of the research outlining the scale and severity of the climate crisis, and its probable impacts on Africa. Many South African universities have missions and visions for being centres of social justice and should be communicating the full risks of climate change to society at large, offering social leadership rather than giving the wrong tacit signals to the rest of society. FFSA's Climate Leadership Platform offers a framework for UCT to do this.

Are you considering television production as a career? Don’t know what the first step into the industry is? A filmmaker who wants to expand their skills in a studio setting? Then you should apply for the 3-WEEK Stepping Stone Multi-Cam course hosted by the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town. You will be guided through how to put a multi-camera studio talk show together, designing sets, working in different roles and how to work in a team. This is a wonderful way to start your television production journey. Only a limited number of applicants can be accepted, so hurry and get your application in! Presented by industry experts in collaboration with broadcasters, you will be introduced to: 🎥 conceptualising a multi-camera studio production; 📽️ various multi-camera studio production roles; 💬 designing and building a set for a talk show; 🎬 working in a multi-camera team; and 🎙️ working with a presenter and high-profile guests in a talk show context. By the end of the week, you will have: learned and practiced basic skills in studio camerawork, vision mixing, directing, sound recording and floor management; experienced working as part of a multi-camera studio crew; and recorded a live talk show with presenter and guests. 📆 Dates: 29 June to 17 July (Monday – Friday; 9AM to 5PM everyday with a possibility of working on a weekend) Before applying, make sure that you are available from 9h00 – 17h00 for ALL DAYS of the course. This is not an online course, in-person participation in Cape Town is a requirement. Applications: Link in Bio or Complete the Google form link: https://forms.gle/f9Wu3BRjEMbFwG6X9 Application Deadline: 17h00 on Friday 15 May 2026 Interviews (if selected): 25 - 29 May 2026 If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email protected]

What is the Climate Leadership Platform? Universities should be pillars of Climate leadership. Fossil Free SA emerged from the 9 year campaign with over 5000 signatures from staff and students culminating in UCT's 2022 commitment to fossil fuel divestment (a prudent financial strategy and condition of moral authority on the climate emergency). What has happened since this commitment? What principles can UCT embrace to lead the way for climate action and a just energy transition in Africa? And, how can staff be part of this?  Universities are the institutions that lead most of the research outlining the scale and severity of the climate crisis, and its probable impacts on Africa. Many South African universities have missions and visions for being centres of social justice and should be communicating the full risks of climate change to society at large, offering social leadership rather than giving the wrong tacit signals to the rest of society. FFSA's Climate Leadership Platform offers a framework for UCT to do this.  📆 Tuesday, 12 May 🕑 13h00 to 14h00 📍 AC Jordan, 4A Speakers: David Le Page, FFSA co-found and director of FFSA, career environment and human rights journalist and campaigner  Steph Cookson, Climate Leadership Campagner, MPhil Climate Change and Sustainable Development studies (ACDI UCT)

New publication! What happens to platforms when they die? The piece reflects on Twitter/X as an infrastructural space that shaped political conversation, activist visibility, affective connection, and everyday public life, while asking what remains when platforms destabilise, decay, or transform beyond recognition. #dmslab #researchpaper #twittergram

Profs Williams and Haupt talking about the Kaaps Woriboek at the castle, nogal! Jolene Martin, on the podcast "The Southern Question", hosted Professor Quentin Williams, Professor Adam Haupt, Chevãn van Rooi and Gaireyah Fredericks, in a rigorous and expansive dialogue on the KAAPS Woriboek… a landmark linguistic and cultural work that affirms KAAPS as a fully realised system of knowledge, memory, and intellectual production. The first Kaaps Woriboek was released this month in Cape Town and is set to change the lives of thousands around South Africa. “The Kaaps dictionary is a historic reference resource that describes the spelling system and development of Kaaps words. It provides linguistic and cultural access to one of the oldest languages in South Africa. For the first time in history, our once slave lingua franca is now codified in this dictionary.” Watch the full episode at the link in our bio!

Don't miss out! Deadline 4 May 2026!!!! Sunshine Cinema has partnered with the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town to offer the Film Impact Screening Facilitator Online Short Course—designed to equip you with practical skills in organising, marketing, and hosting impactful screenings. You’ll learn audience strategy, how to facilitate meaningful conversations, and how to use film to enhance social impact goals. This course is perfect for aspiring impact producers, screening facilitators, creative activists, NGO communications professionals, and film or journalism students looking to apply their knowledge in a meaningful, real-world context. 📅 Application deadline: 04 May 2026 📆 Course runs: June – November 2026 ✨ Apply now via the link in our bio!

Putting theory into practice for our FAM1000F students We were very fortunate to have a guest lecturer, Melissa Attree ( @melattree ), share her extensive industry and copywriting experience. Melissa is a senior marketing, communications and brand transformation leader (niven.biz) with over 30 years’ experience advising global brands and organisations on growth, audience engagement and brand positioning. This real-world, practical knowledge and insights from industry experts is an essential part of the learning process for our students!