All You Need To Know For The Durban International Film Festival 2015

There is some rich content on offer at the Festival in July this year in Durban.

'We have to continue a legacy' that was the word from the new Festival Director Pedro Pimenta.  The organiser's have certainly served up some rich talent this year.

Here are some of the highlights you can look forward to:

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

A Dry White Season

Ayanda - The Opening Night Film At DIFF

Above and Below 

Bastard 

Boda Boda Thieves

Boychoir

Brazilian Dream

Breathe Umphefumlo

Cartoonists - Foot Soldiers of Democracy

Blood Lions

Charlie's Country

City Of God Ten Years Later

Coming Of Age

Dis Ek Anna

Do I Sound Gay

Dog Lady

Eden

Glory Game

Cobain: Montage Of Heck

Ladygrey

Run

Salt Of The Earth

Strangerland

The Actor

The Yes Men Are Revolting

The Prophet

The Dealer

Winter Sleep

Wolf Totem 

http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/

#DIFF2015

Images courtesy DIFF

This edition by Fred Felton

Twitter @fredfelton 

Your Weekend Event Guide

Friday, Saturday

Gateway - 27 June - 2pm - 3h30pm
Shelley Beach - 9h30am 

Sunday

Review of the LG G4

This week I was invited to review the new #LGG4 from LG.

This new smartphone features a state of the art camera.
With the camera you can shoot in RAW format.  What that means is for the first
time you have a really big choice to make.

Do you lug your big DSLR camera around with the tripod, lenses, the bag and flash or do you decide to ditch the DSLR and take this phone/camera instead?

Either way photographers are going to have a tough decision to make.
The camera features a F1.8 aperture lens which allows 80 percent more light to hit the image sensor than in the LG G3.

The smartphone features 32GB internal memory.  Perfect for all of those pics you take.
The operating system is Android 5.1 Lollipop.
Network: 4G / LTE / HSPA+ 21 Mbps (3G)
Features Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / USB

It even comes with a leather back cover in some models.

What else can it do?

• It has a Health Tracker which is cool for fitness nuts 
• You can use it as a Universal Remote as long as it picks up your TV or Audio or even your Air-Con so instead of changing channels with the old TV Remote just pull out your #LGG4
• The Camera on the smartphone has various options from Manual to Auto to Gesture Shot and more.
• The Camera can also be voice operated by just saying Cheese or LG
• You can also depress the camera button for a long time and you get to take 4 selfies one after the other
• An interesting camera option is Dual Shot which lets you operate the front and back camera at the same time.  What that means is you can insert a pic of yourself in the picture.  I can imagine you might want to use that if you want to take a pic of friends and don't have enough space to fit in the shot.  You could also use it to provide proof that you were actually at the place you took the picture.  I leave it to your imagination what else you can do with that feature.
• Gesture shot needs a bit of practice but when you get it right you can take a pic without pressing any buttons.  

How to take the Gesture Shot

You will also certainly have loads of fun with the Panorama Option on the Camera just be careful to keep it in line with the arrows as you take the pic.

If you get it right you might end up with a pic like this one of Durban that I took.

As for the smartphone itself it has all the bells and whistles you would expect from LG.  From a calendar list to email via Google and even Google Drive to much, much more.

I tested the camera on this smartphone in various settings and at various locations, times and light settings and it never let me down.  Each time the result was brilliant. 

If you would like to see more of the pics I took with this phone check me out on Instagram @fredfelton

Final Thoughts: An amazing camera and a full featured smartphone

Contact your cellphone provider to find out the latest deals and specials on this model. 

For more details visit: http://www.lg.com/us/mobile-phones/g4

Find them on Twitter: @LGMobileSA

#LGG4

Review by Fred Felton

Twitter @fredfelton 

The East Coast Radio House and Garden Show Is Coming

Prepare to be swept off your feet!

With over 350 exhibitors over 10 days it's a one-of-a-kind experience for shoppers and idea hunters. Lots on offer this year including the Kids Zone, Homegrown Design Fair, The Gardener LIVE section, Builders DIY Pavilion, Kitchen Zone and look out for the delicious nibbles along the way from artisan food vendors.  While you shop in style enjoy the wonderful music from the East Coast Radio DJ's.

Dates: 26 June - 5 July
Times: Mon - Thur 10am - 8pm | Fri - Sat 10am - 10pm | Sun 10am - 8pm
Entrance Fees: R85 adults | R60 seniors over 60 | Under 16 FREE (with adult)
Multiple Tickets: R100 per adult. Unlimited access over 10 days
Mid-Week Senior Special: Mon - Thurs 10am - 11:30am one cup of coffee / tea with one muffin or danish FREE

Venue: Durban Exhibition Centre, 11 Walnut Road
Web: www.housegardenshow.co.za

Facebook: www.facebook.com/housegardenshow
Twitter: www.twitter.com/HouseGardenShow

#LoveMyHome

Pssst want to win tickets to the Gateway Durban July Preview Fashion Show and Concert?

It's coming.  The Gateway Durban July Preview Fashion Show and Concert featuring the likes of Damon Beard, Goodluck, Shortstraw, Ryan the DJ and Protoculture.

Look out for the Fashion

The show happens on 3 July 2015 and there is so much in it.  Apart from the Fashion Show featuring some of the great clothing you can wear for the Durban July there will also be entertainment and music.  Damon Beard from East Coast Radio will be broadcasting live from the Wave House from    3 - 6pm.

The VDJ Fashion Challenge is a competition open to all experienced and aspiring locals as well as out-of-province designers.

There is also the Invited Designer Showcase.  This features amongst others Craig Jacobs and Terrence Bray.

After the Fashion Show you can expect a wonderful concert featuring Goodluck, Shortstraw, Ryan the DJ and Protoculture.

The Fashion Theme for the Durban July and this show is 'The Captain's Table so think about that when you choose your outfit.  How would you dress if you were invited to the Captain's Table?

Tickets to the show are available from Computicket.

There is also a competition at Gateway where you can win a luxury cruise in association with Marie Claire and MSC Cruises valued at R40,000.  All you need to do is spend R350 or more at Gateway and enter at the promo stand near the Info Desk.

You can also enter online at www.gatewayworld.co.za

We have 5 double tickets to give away to lucky readers.*
All you have to do is tell us which East Coast Radio DJ will be playing live at the Wave House?

Email your answer with your name, email address and telephone number to:
falconscove@gmail.com

Please put: 'Gateway Fashion Show Competition' in the subject line of the email.

Good luck! 

This competition is now closed. 

*Ts & Cs apply.

Uber is creating a new way of getting around cities

Last week I attended a media round table where we got to meet Alon Lits the Uber Durban and JHB General Manager.  He released to us some new developments from Uber and we also heard from Drivers and Partners.

Alon Lits - General Manager Durban and Johannesburg Uber RSA

Lits explained that Uber acts as lead generation software for the drivers.

He also went on to clarify that you can use debit cards to book a ride. 

He also asked people to please rate their drivers as this is very good for quality control and helps make the whole Uber experience that much better each time.

Uber started in 2010 in San Francisco and is now in over 300 cities and counting.

South Africa was the first country outside of the USA where Uber had 3 cities.

Mr Lits showed us that Durban has seen good growth for Uber.

So far 2000 jobs have been created by Uber in South Africa.

Uber has also pledged globally to create 1 million jobs for women by 2020.

Here is a sample of the arrival times for Uber from when you book a fare:

San Francisco - 2.5 min

New York - 2.7 min

Johannesburg - 4.2 min

Durban - 4.5 min

Mr Lits also shared with us some of the interesting driver experiences: 

 A man once booked an Uber because he wanted to get to hospital and he felt that Uber was faster than an ambulance

            A lawyer uses Uber to get around and at the same time he does business calls in the Uber and he bills clients for that.  So people are now using Uber as a mobile office

Mr Lits went on to inform us that at present in Durban there is a moratorium on the operating licence for Uber as the City does not exactly know what Uber is.  He went on to tell us that they continue talks with the City in the hope that some agreement can be reached.

Here are some of the latest developments from Uber and what you can expect in the future:   

You can split fares with people when you book a fare 

EasyPay Outlets are now offering a Virtual Credit Card System so people without credit cards or debit cards can now book an Uber. 

Deaf people can use an Uber and the driver will be aware of this before they are even picked up.  

Look out for UberPOOL – this is similar to a carpool whereby you join with others to go in an Uber.  Mr Lits explained that you will have the benefit of choosing from your friends for example on Facebook.  People you know, not strangers.  This is all in an effort to reduce pollution.  This will be tested in Sandton later this year. 

UberEATS – you can request and order a burger or meal on demand.  

UberHealth – this was a partnership with Discovery whereby the provided a nurse who administered Flu Vaccines to people who wanted them.  

UberRUSH  – this is a type of courier service that Uber offers.  This is found in New York at the moment.  No word if it will be rolled out elsewhere. 

The drivers explained to us that they really enjoy working with Uber. 

At the moment you can take advantage of a great special that Uber has countrywide in June.  If you book an UberX you can get quite the discount.  For example from Durban to Umhlanga it will cost you around R116 one way.

Uber has seven cities in Africa (Cape Town, Durban, Joburg, Pretoria, Cairo, Nairobi and Lagos)

To request a ride, users must download the free application for Android, iPhone, Blackberry 7, or register for Uber at www.uber.com/go.

For questions visit www.uber.com/capetown | www.uber.com/johannesburg | 

www.uber.com/durban

From today you can also take advantage of this offer from Uber and Umhlanga Life.

If you are a first time user and sign up for Uber you can get your first ride free.

All you have to do is click on the link below:

https://www.uber.com/invite/uberUMHLANGALIFE

Fred Felton 

Twitter @fredfelton 

Your Weekend Event Guide and Coming Soon

Coming up this Weekend

Saturday

Sunday

Coming Soon

Find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pechakuchadurban 

Review of Brainwavz In-Ear Noise Isolating Earphones

Last week I received a wonderful surprise in the post.  A parcel from the good folks at Brainwavz.  They asked me to try out their new Brainwavz S1 model (http://www.yourbrainwavz.com/s1.html) and see what I think.

Well I tried them out and here is what I think:

First off I love the rich detail in the packaging.  Everything is very well set out.  

Best of all these earphones even have their own carry case.  How cool is that?

I love the new design of these earphones, not your normal type of cord.  It features an Oxgen Free Cable.  If you can imagine what an elastic rubber band feels like.  This makes a huge difference.

The earphones I received were dark grey/black which works well with any outfit you want to wear. 

The earphones also feature COMPLY™ Premium Earphone Tips which makes a wonderful difference to the listening experience.

Now let us look at the sound experience.

I tested these earphones out on 3 different types of music and videos and here is what I found:

Batman: The Dark Knight by Hans Zimmer

The earphones worked very well with the rich deep drums, synth and bass in this music video and it really enhanced the listening and viewing pleasure. 

Behind The Wheel by Depeche Mode

An old favourite of mine and the earphones certainly brought the music to life.

Time to Burn by Storm

A real dance beat to this piece with high B.P.M. and it certainly put these earphones to the test.  A wonderful sound explosion and the earphones contributed wonderfully to the music.

So as you can see 2 songs and 1 music video I tried it on and the earphones did not disappoint.

Try them out yourself, trust me you won’t be disappointed:

http://www.amazon.com//dp/B00G4UQ6U8/

Review by Fred Felton

Entrepreneurship the beat to the African drum

This year’s African Renaissance conference focused on Entrepreneurship, looking deeply at youth entrepreneurship across Africa.

The African Renaissance Conference 2015 - Image by Fred Felton 

Leading the opening panel was Councilor Mayor Nxumalo who officially welcomed all delegates, which had almost every country represented on #Africa Day. Minister of Small Business & Enterprise Lindiwe Zulu highlighted the importance of working collaboratively with other African countries as key to growing South Africa and Africa as whole.

What was interesting to note that the industries that need the most entrepreneurial growth were renewable energy, technology (green & innovative), maritime, agriculture, economic and social development industries. These industries have the potential of growing immensely and impacting greatly on communities, according to the government panel which included Minister of the Presidency Jeff Radebe.

Even with all these developments the challenges are real in every aspect relating to youth, mainly being youth unemployment, slow youth development in entrepreneurship, lack of job creation and inadequate support of youth entrepreneurship. Much of these challenges plague many African countries even with current and planned resources to assist, however there have been instances of silver lining with the support of great businesses that do a great deal of work to actively take part in strengthening the economy.

For entrepreneurship to grow in Durban, South Africa and Africa as whole, it begins with its people. Its people need to adopt a new mindset of how to do business and encourage any youth within their midst to do more than expect a job, but be creative with their skills and find new ways to create opportunity and work for themselves and others. 

Article by  Amanda O Mathe 

Journalist and Director at Ndlovukazi Online Media.

Twitter @Onapower