Film cities and competitive advantage: Development factors in South African film

The post-apartheid film industry is a contested space. This study examines the nature of competitiveness, the idea of film precincts and film and media cities, through the prism of Michael Porter’s Diamond Model for competitive advantage. Issues of globalization, cultural policy and sector development are discussed with regard to linking micro with macro developments in production, distribution and audience development in South Africa. The study examines micro-macro relations within holistic value chain circuits that connect production (small and large scale) with exhibition (in the form of an employment-generating, national roll out of modular-based mini-cinema complexes). Overall, this article delineates the broad parameters of an on-going research project.