Tag Archives: Lion’s Head

Cape Town makes music for FIFA 2014 World Cup, and Faul & Wad Ad’s ‘Changes’!

Coca Cola Anthem Middle EastOn Kfm yesterday morning presenter Ian Bredenkamp spoke about Cape Town’s role as film location, specifically referring to two music videos which have been produced in our beautiful city.

Coca Cola’s anthem for the Middle East for the 2014 soccer World Cup is really odd, entitled ‘The World is Ours’.   The music video tells the story of three friends from Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia meeting up at the airport in Brazil, for the World Cup soccer, and having a good time getting to enjoy the vibe of the country.  However, the video was shot in its entirety in Cape Town and surrounds, representing the ‘vibrant and colourful Brazilian landscape‘, according to the production company.  The video starts off with a park with palms, and features the view from Signal Hill looking down onto Sea Point, Cape Town International, Bo-Kaap, dancing on the rooftop of a building in the city centre with Lion’s HeadCoca Cola Anthem Middle East Rooftop Whale Cottage Portfolio as a backdrop, street food stalls, and having fun on a beach (most likely to be Camps Bay).  The production was by Silver Lining Pictures (in conjunction with Fortune Promoseven Cairo), and the post production was done by Searle Street Post, both from Cape Town.   The anthem interpretation is vibey, and its tune catchy, much nicer than the FIFA official anthem by Pitbull.  The Coca Cola Middle East music video achieved close to 2 million views on YouTube within 48 hours of being Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 12/13 April

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Forbes has published a wonderful article by Fathom travel website about Cape Town and the Winelands, describing it as a ‘mix of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Napa Valley – with a little Bilbao thrown in‘.  It recommends Table Mountain, penguins at ‘Boulder Bay’ (sic) ‘Beach‘, ‘design-centric’ shopping at Cape Quarter, Lion’s Head, Robben Island, ‘Victoria and Albert (sic) Waterfront‘, a township tour, Simonstown, Surf Shack in Muizenberg, Delaire Graff Restaurant, and Babylonstoren.  For shopping O.live, Nap, Merchants on Long, Monkey Biz, and African Nova are recommended.  Restaurant recommendations include Harbour House, Live Bait, Grand Café on the Beach, Bungalow, Bistro Sixteen82, The Greenhouse, The Test Kitchen, and The Round House.

*   Henco J (his surname is not revealed) from Pretoria is one of three winners of the Jameson First Shot awards, an annual opportunity to have a short film produced given to a resident of South Africa, Russia, and the USA by Oscar winning actor Kevin Spacey.  The three winners will have their film produced in Los Angeles later this year, with actress Uma Thurman in the lead role in each.  Henco’s script is called ‘The Mundane Goddess’, and tells the story of Hera, the queen of Greek gods.

*   Palm Beach Illustrated writes with praise about South African wines, in an article entitled ‘South Africa Rising: Wine and Vineyard Renaissance’, and how these combine old-world tradition with cutting-edge techniques.  The article features Continue reading →

SA Tourism uses fruit salad communication to market South Africa in the UK!

South African FruitReceiving Google Alerts about a wide range of topics, we came across one of the strangest links, for South African Fruit, but which looks like it has been designed to market South Africa as a tourism destination, associating different fruits with beautiful top South African destinations!

While the SA Tourism logo is liberally used on the South African Fruit website, the Contact page leads one to Hortgro in Paarl, its pay-off line being ‘supporting the horticultural industry‘.  Its members are Dried Fruit Technical Services, South African Stone Fruit Producers’ Association, and the South African Apple and Pear Producers’ Association.  Affiliated members of Hortgro are The Pomegranate Association of South Africa, South African Olive Industry Association, South African Honeybush Tea Association, South African Bee Industry Association, and South African Fruit and Vegetable Canners’ Association.

The South African Fruit website focuses only on the Stone Fruit, and the Apple and Pear Producers associations’ products, featuring apples, pears, plums, nectarines and peaches, and appears to focus on marketing our local fruit in the UK.  Using the headline ‘South Africa: Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit’, different pages show a child holding one of the fruits, with SA Fruit applean iconic view in the background.  For example, the view onto Lion’s Head and Cape Town from Table Mountain is linked to an apple; the view of Table Mountain from Bloubergstrand is linked to a plum; the Drakensberg is paired with a pear; and an unknown destination is associated with a nectarine.  Each photograph is SA Tourism branded.

The South African Fruit website also features Reuben ‘Robertsons’ Riffel, who endorses South African Fruit, and has developed a number of recipes for each for the four fruit types.  The site also contains a promotional page, and entries are invited for the development of a South African menu by student chefs or chefs under the age of 25, the prize being to spend one week in the kitchen of Chef Margot Janse of Le Quartier Français’ ‘The Tasting Rooms’ (sic)  in Franschhoek! Continue reading →

Cape Town wins Best Documentary Feature Oscar for ‘Searching for Sugar Man’!

Cape Town’s tourism players are ecstatic about ‘Searching for Sugar Man’, the documentary filmed largely in Cape Town and documenting the search for ‘Seventies singer Sixto Rodriguez, winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards in the early hours of this morning.  This is the Oscar association with South Africa our country would far rather be known for and proud of!

Searching for Sugar Man’ tells the story of Capetonian Sugar Segerman’s search for ‘Seventies American rock star Rodriguez, who was more popular in South Africa than in any other country, and who ‘disappeared’.  Through an internet appeal, Segerman found Rodriguez and brought him back to South Africa for a series of concerts in the ‘Nineties.  Swedish film producer Malik Bendjelloul heard about the Rodriguez story from Segerman, and made a documentary, which won acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival when it was launched last year.

The bulk of the film is shot in Cape Town, and shows off our City’s icons such as Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, Camps Bay beach, and the scenic Victoria Road between Camps Bay and Hout Bay, with the Twelve Apostles as a backdrop.  Segerman’s record shop Mabu Vinyls off Kloof Street is also featured.

Not only has ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ won the film industry’s highest award, but it has also won the BAFTA for Best Documentary, and won the Special Jury Prize and Audience Award for best international documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, reports The Times.

‘Searching for Sugar Man’ tells the story of the revival of Sixto Rodriguez as a performer, having just completed his latest South African tour, whilst showing off our beautiful city to audiences around the world, especially after the latest Oscar accolade.

POSTSCRIPT: 25/2: Western Cape Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Alan Winde proudly sent out a media statement congratulating ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ in winning the Oscar, and to ‘Asad’, having been nominated for Best Short Film (Live Action) : “Congratulations to the teams behind ‘Asad’ and ‘Searching for Sugarman’, you have done us very proud. Both films showcase the natural beauty of the Western Cape and will undoubtedly encourage international and local viewers to come and visit our Province. The film sector is a priority sector in the Western Cape’s economy. It generates R5 billion and creates an estimated 6,058 direct jobs and 2,502 indirect jobs. In the year ahead we will ramp up the support the sector receives. Last year, we announced that Wesgro, our Destination Marketing, Investment and Trade Promotion Agency, will now take up the role of promoting Cape Town and the Western Cape as a film destination.” Minister Winde continued.

In improving the support for the Western Cape’s film sector, for the 2013/2014 financial year, Wesgro’s efforts in marketing of Cape Town and the Western Cape as a film destination will include:

• Together with the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism, facilitating access to national film rebates.
• Supporting commercial orientation of existing film makers.
• Exploring potential of developing local content film making.
• Developing local film audiences.
• Trade and investment missions in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry.
• Development of a film market within the provincial film festivals.
• Focused engagement with Cape Town Film Studios for investment purposes in the long film and TV productions.
• Hosting regular engagements with industry on key issues for the Western Cape in collaboration with the City of Cape Town, the Media, Information and Communications Technology SETA (MICT SETA), the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and the Department of Trade and Industry.

Minister Winde concluded: “Oscar Winner ‘Searching for Sugarman’ not only depicts the natural beauty of our City, it also tells the story of who we are as a people. The spirit with which South Africans have embraced Rodriguez was also shared with the foreign travellers who visited us during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We are a friendly, warm and welcoming nation. Our people are undoubtedly our biggest asset.”

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage