Feature Film
A feature film is a full-length motion picture that serves as the principal or sole attraction in a commercial theatrical program.
The Festival
The Ma-Tšhabeng Voices Film Festival will be a landmark three-day celebration of South African cinema and is set to take place from 26 to 28 November 2026 in Phomolong, Hennenman, Free State. The festival will bring high-quality feature films, documentaries, and short works to a community eager to engage with authentic storytelling. It will also give audiences the chance to meet the filmmakers behind the lens and to discover opportunities in South Africa’s growing film industry.
Named “Ma-Tšhabeng Voices” — a play on Matjhabeng, the municipality whose name speaks of nations converging, and on the voices those nations carry — the festival is designed to be a catalyst for social change, economic opportunity, and creative inspiration in the Free State.
For decades, quality cinema in South Africa has been concentrated in the major urban centres, out of reach of rural communities. By establishing this festival in Phomolong, we will create a physical and cultural space where young filmmakers, seasoned professionals, local educators, and curious audiences can gather to celebrate the art of film, engage in substantive dialogue about storytelling’s role in society, and imagine new possibilities for their own creative futures in their own locality.
Ours will not be a festival happening to a community; it will be a festival built by and for the people of the Free State, rooted in local creativity and designed to transform how our region sees itself.
The festival is organised by Forza Trading Enterprise with funding from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP 6) through the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).
Film terms
Short Film
A short film is an original motion picture that tells a complete story in less than 40 minutes.
Documentary
A documentary is a film or video that tells a true story or explores a real-life subject, person, event, place, or issue.
Film Production
Film production is the process of creating a film, from the first idea through to the finished movie or documentary.
What makes Ma-Tšhabeng Voices distinctive
Rooted in Local Culture, Speaking to National Conversations
The festival will celebrate Free State cultural narratives as a vital contribution to South Africa’s creative discourse. Local storytelling is valued not merely as work for regional audiences but as work that resonates nationally. Filmmakers from Phomolong and the Free State are part of South Africa’s creative economy, and this festival will create the space where their work is seen, engaged with, and respected as such.
Film as Tourism and Development Catalyst
The festival will create economic and cultural opportunities for the region. Filmmakers and industry professionals visiting Phomolong for the festival will discover the landscape, the community, and the creative potential of the Free State. Audiences will gather to experience cinema in a meaningful, immersive setting. The connections those encounters create — between people, between regions, between cultures — will generate lasting relationships and opportunities for the area, demonstrating how cultural events can drive both immediate economic activity and longer-term regional development.
A Platform for Emerging Filmmakers
South African cinema is enriched by emerging voices and diverse perspectives. The open call will welcome student projects, first-time productions, independent shorts, and experimental pieces by young creatives, and the festival will reserve exhibition space for them — programming them alongside established work and creating pathways to industry opportunities.
Vision
A Free State where rural communities have full access to world-class cinema, and emerging filmmakers build sustainable creative careers.
Mission
Create access, skills, and opportunity for filmmakers and audiences in Phomolong through cinema, mentorship, and industry dialogue.
Jobs and Skills in a growing creative economy
The festival will create employment and training opportunities across production, marketing, coordination, and support roles, offering work to interns, professionals, and community members. The masterclass programme is built for young people and aspiring professionals; participation in production and delivery will give on-the-job learning to participants at all levels. Through employment and training, the festival aims to contribute meaningfully to skills development in the Free State’s creative sector.
Funders and organiser
