Isibindi Africa Lodges has won a global silver award for a video produced during the lockdown period of COVID-19 called COURAGE. It was no easy feat either, the group competed against 865 other entrants for the coveted place among the top three.
“With 865 entries from 97 countries, of which a quarter were African, the competition was fierce,” says Caroline Ungersbock, co-founder and director of the ITFF. “As COVID caused numerous logistical challenges it made sense to combine the Afro-centric version of our event with the International one this year.”
In the African Competition, Isibindi Africa Lodges picked up a Silver Award for their entry, COURAGE, a video made by Chantelle Melzer of Wild Visuals Collective, who shot the bulk of the footage and created the winning video
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“The impact of the Corona virus has had a devastating impact on tourism worldwide. South Africa was hit equally hard and the realisation of its severe threat to the future of the business, galvanised our team into action,” says Brett Gehren, CEO of Isibindi Africa Lodges.
“The heavy load of caring for Isibindi’s communities and the incredible natural wonders around our Lodges into an uncertain future, was made bearable by the unwavering support from the Isibindi Staff. They gave me the Courage, the ‘Isibindi’ …to stride forward knowing that this too will pass.”
The commercial “Because South Africa”, produced by the WWP Group for South African Tourism, was distinguished with the GRAND PRIX AFRICA ITFFA 2021.
The entries were evaluated by International Jury, which brought together renowned professionals from Audiovisual Production, Marketing, and Tourism fields. James Byrne, co-director of the ITFFA added, “Tourism is a topic that is possibly the best suited for video marketing, as its very essence is about visual storytelling. Our objective for this year in particular was to carry a message of hope and encouragement during a time when it is so needed. This event was defined by the people that participated, and we are beyond grateful to have shared in this journey with them.
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