Sibs Shongwe- La Mer (born 11 September 1991) is a screenwriter, film director, musician, TED (conference) talks alumni and visual artist born in Johannesburg, South Africa. His critically acclaimed debut feature film, Necktie Youth premiered in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival and numerous top tier international film festivals, winning "Best South African Feature Film" and "Best Direction" at the Durban International Film Festival in 2015. The film went on to garner a multitude of awards including "Best Achievement in Cinematography" and "Best Achievement in editing" at the 2015 South African Film and Television Awards. Necktie Youth was theatrically released in South Africa (2015) at Ster-Kinekor and on the iTunes Store & DStv Box-office. The film was later released in the Netherlands, Brazil & American VOD between 2016–2017. Mid 2016, Shongwe-La Mer signed representation contracts with top London film lit agency Casarotto Ramsey & Associates , Rick Yorn's legendary LBI entertainment & Hollywood heavy weight CAA. In 2016, Shongwe-La Mer made the selection for the Berlinale Talents program of the prestigious Berlinale. 2017 brought the young director back to the festival for a third consecutive year of participance with a feature film in development selected for the "Berlinale Directors" category of the Co-Production Market (European Film Market ) with the screenplay for South African drama "The Color Of The Skull". The project was presented to top industry professionals as an alumni project. On numerous occasions the South African director has expressed a respect for the A-list festival. Later that year Shongwe-La Mer had a third feature project selected for the Paris Co-Production Village at the 2017 Champs-Élysées Film Festival where he presented a third feature screenplay for project "The Sound Of Animals Fighting". That October, Variety (magazine) reported the feature will star Hollywood heartthrob Emile Hirsch and X-Men star Alice Braga shooting in Brazil and Johannesburg. In 2018 Shongwe-La Mer participated in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival where he took his screenplay "Color Of The Skull" to l´Atelier de la Cinéfondation. Shongwe-La Mer took the top prize winning Le Prix ARTE International for most promising cinematic vision. Early career Sibs Shongwe-La Mer (born Sibusiso Mandla Shongwe) was born in Sandton in the Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa on 11 September 1991. His visual art and cinema career began in his late teens after the untimely death of a high