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.