A four star guesthouse in the Karoo town of Victoria West, with views of the surrounding mountains, is on sale through Seeff Properties at R1.7 million. It has six furnished self-catering units and a separate flatlet for the manager or owner.

The Karoo town of Victoria West is a close knit community known for its hospitality and friendly folk, says Annemie Hugo of Seeff Properties’ Victoria West branch.

“Those strolling through our town recently may have been wondering about the identity of the artistic-looking strangers exploring the streets during the last three months. The reason is that the South African Scriptwriting Institute has been running two of its core programmes, funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund.”

She says a few months ago six scriptwriters and their mentors arrived from Gauteng to participate in ‘Script Camp’. The programme gives experienced writers the opportunity to spend six weeks completely focused on writing the first draft of their feature film script with support from industry experts.

Hugo says this programme is a first for the South African film industry and is expected to drastically improve the quality of scripts available to producers.

“Writers from all over the country submitted their own partially developed projects and six were selected for the inaugural camp. The stories include a gripping murder-mystery, a Somalian pirate epic and a story of witchcraft set in rural Venda. The writers include a novelist, a playwright and seasoned television writers. The projects are expected to be developed further and produced locally in the near future.

After Script Camp 1 finished in early June, groups of entry-level writers from the Northern Cape, Western Cape, Free State, Limpopo and Gauteng participated in four week long courses in the ‘Fundamentals of Scriptwriting’ – the Institute’s core development course.

“Travelling to the Karoo was an experience in itself for many,” says Hugo, “as many of the young writers had never been to this part of the country.”

The Lottery-funded projects have enabled the resuscitation of the grand old hotel in Victoria West’s main street and the creation of 22 jobs. The institute is seeking funding to continue the projects for at least the next three years and establish a permanent writers’ retreat in the hotel.

“With the concurrent revival of the Apollo theatre, we hope to establish Victoria West as the ‘movie-town’ of the Northern Cape – a place where film and social development are equally on the agenda,” says Hugo.

Call 072 455 5878 or email victoriawes@seeff.com.