DEPUTY CHIEF JUSTICE TO OPEN OIA FESTIVAL

The organisers of the Out In Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival have announced that the Deputy Chief Justice, Justice Dikgang Moseneke, will officially open the Festival in Johannesburg on March 1.

Dikgang Moseneke was appointed as a judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa in 2002. Before his appointment to the Constitutional Court, Moseneke was a judge of the High Court in Pretoria. He also served on the technical committee that drafted the interim constitution of 1993.

“It is a great honour to have the Deputy Chief Justice officiate the 13th annual Gay & Lesbian Film festival, particularly in terms of the recent passing of the Civil Union Act allowing same-sex marriages,” says Nodi Murphy, Festival Director.

It was a judgment by the Constitutional Court in 2005 that ordered the State to legalise same-sex marriage, leading to the creation of the Civil Union Act.

“We look forward to welcoming him [Moseneke] and distinguished guests from the legal, business and diplomatic communities to the first part of the festival, during the 1st and 18th March before we move on to Cape Town (15th March to the 1st April),” says Murphy.

Tickets for the 2007 Gay & Lesbian Film Festival are available through Computicket, as well as directly from Nu Metro cinemas in the Hyde Park shopping centre (Jhb) and at the V&A Waterfront (CTN). Out In Africa and Nu Metro Theatres are offering discounts (up to 30%) for regular festival goers.

The opening night of the festival is by invitation only. For more information, visit www.oia.co.za.