Petrus van Staden

Petrus van Staden is a South African producer & editor. 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. His projects have participated at the Red Sea Souk, and the Atlas Workshops and been funded by the Rainin Foundation and Netflix. He is passionate about diversity, collaboration and finding ways to tell and uplift marginalised stories as well as exploring ways to tell those stories authentically and just. Apart from the selections mentioned above, he has been part of productions that have been selected for Sundance, IFFR, and New Directors New Films - bringing professionalism and quality storytelling to everything he involves himself.