by Thinus Ferreira
Well, this is embarrassing for somebody covering South Africa's film and TV industry: There exists a film festival I've never, and I mean, never heard of, but it's been up and running since 2013: The Mpumalanga International Film Festival, known as MIFF.
Obviously, there are other MIFFs - the Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia, as well as the Mumbai International Film Festival in India - but MIFF in the city of Mbombela in South Africa, taking place in August every year, started in 2013.
I've not known about MIFF, never heard anybody speak a word about it and I've been around since the days when Sithengi was the premier film and TV trade market and festival in Africa and took place in Cape Town until it collapsed in 2006.
I've now done my research, and the Mpumalanga International Film Festival in South Africa was founded by filmmaker and director Sifiso Nkosinathi Nobela.
He launched MIFF to try and provide some type of independent, self-sustaining platform for local South African filmmakers and storytellers without having to leave Mpumalanga as a province.
MIFF apparently sets itself apart from traditional South African film festivals and trade markets through its focus on wildlife and "Conservation Cinema"
Given its location in Mpumalanga, home to the Big Five and the Blyde River Canyon, MIFF explicitly positions itself as Africa's premier wildlife and biodiversity filmmaking destination.
Unlike traditional film festivals held in convention centres or city theatres, MIFF hosts unique "wildlife cinema" screenings and its dedicated WildMarket directly inside the Kruger National Park at Skukuza.
It also features a dedicated Biodiversity Storytelling Incubation programme, specifically designed to support filmmakers doing work that highlights subjects like climate, landscapes, and humanity's relationship with the natural world.
At last week's 2026 MIP Africa and Fame Week in Cape Town, MIFF had a stand inside the CTICC2 and when I walked past and noticed it, I went to it and took a pamphlet and asked who does the PR or media liaison for MIFF.
Hopefully it's a film festival I'll be able to cover in future. Fom my side, I will definitely try, since I now know that it takes place in August every year.
I think MIFF can do a lot more to reach out, and to start building relationships to get to know the various journalists and trade media and platforms covering South Africa's film and TV industry and film festival circuit.
MIFF, as something from Mpumalanga and a film festival that definitely has a bespoke and important focal point - conservation cinema and wildlife filmmaking - could do with much more exposure and also deserves more coverage.
