Good News

BULLETIN 10 July 

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts says preparations are well underway for the 45th Durban International Film Festival. The festival will feature more than 100 screenings and a variety of workshops, seminars, and outreach activities, including movies in township areas where there are no cinemas. This year’s edition features documentaries from various countries, including Sundance and Berlinale films. The festival begins next week Thursday and runs for ten days.

# Cape Town’s Heat Winter Arts Festival seeks to support small art businesses and emerging creatives. Running from tomorrow, the event features art exhibitions, theatre performances, and jazz events. Organiser Mary Corrigall says the festival focuses on youth and cultural producers, offering a platform for creativity and connection. She adds the event will also boost visitors to galleries in the city centre.

# Nominations for the City of Ekurhuleni’s Youth Legacy Excellence Awards closes on Friday. The awards recognise and honour outstanding youth performance. Categories for nominations include health, arts and culture, justice and law, philanthropy and media and entertainment. People nominated must be between 18 and 35 and have demonstrated a vision for the future in their career, workspace, or community. The awards ceremony will be on the 23rd of this month.

# US president Joe Biden has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to outgoing Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. This is America’s highest civilian honour. The former Norwegian prime minister has served in the role since 2014. Former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is the next Nato secretary general from October. Biden says Nato is stronger because of the work Stoltenberg has done:

# And, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have announced that Shrek 5 is officially in the works with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz all reprising their roles. The first Shrek movie, based on William Steig’s 1990 children’s book of the same name, was released in 2001, with Myers voicing the titular ogre, Murphy his trusty friend Donkey, and Diaz as Princess Fiona. The fifth instalment will be directed by Walt Dohrn and is set to be released on the first of July 2026.

Stay tuned for more news………….