ABOUT

Photo by: Vahid Davids

Petrus van Staden is a filmmaker based in Cape Town, South Africa.

In 2019 he co-founded Vanishing Elephant with Tebogo Malebogo driven by a desire to find a way to tell meaningful stories. Through the company he produced and edited "Mthunzi" (2019; Locarno, SXSW, Special Jury Mention at AFI Fest) which can be watched on First Look Media's streaming service Topic. Their second production, "Heaven Reaches Down to Earth" (2020; New Directors New films, Clermont- Ferrand, Palm Springs ShortFest), was released on Mubi in January 2022, and received a Vimeo Staff Pick in June of that same year. 

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In 2021 he wrote and directed "Let's Do This Again Sometime"which premiered at the Festival du Cinema Nouveau in Montreal.

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He is passionate about diversity, collaboration and finding ways to tell and uplift marginalised stories as well as exploring ways how to tell those stories authentically and just. Apart from the selections mentioned above, he has been part of productions that have been selected to Sundance, IFFR, Oberhausen, Durban, and New Directors New Films - bringing professionalism and quality storytelling to everything he involves himself with.

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He is currently in post-production on a Tanzanian ciGogo film for UNESCO & Netflix.

Nominations & Awards

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MTHUNZI: AFI Fest Special Jury Prize: Live Action Short Film

                  Carthage Film Festival: Bronze Award : Best Short Film

                  Gimli Film Festival: Best International Short Film Jury Prize

                  Quibdó África Film Festival: Best International Short Film

                  Drunken Film Fest Oakland: Best World Narrative

                  Russian Indie Film Festival: Best Editing

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