This year’s SAFTAs are all about ‘framing the future.’
Nominees were announced yesterday. The South African film and television industry has grown tremendously as of late. We are seeing more hard-hitting, authentic and super entertaining content hitting our shores – be in film or the small screen.
As to be expected, two of South Africa’s largest media groups, Multichoice and SABC, go toe-to-toe for the evening’s big prizes.
“Last year, we faced our greatest challenge ever post-Covid, this year, we celebrate the connectedness that helped us get through, while actively promoting optimism within our local industry. With the release of this year’s nominees, we are looking forward to a remarkable show that will showcase the creative innovation that our local industry has continued to display despite the circumstances that have been faced,” said Chief Executive of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), Makhosazana Khanyile.
Multichoice leads the pack as the media group whose shows received the most nominations at this year’s extravaganza. The River and Tali’s Baby Diary” are tied at 11 nods each, while Diep City and Suidooster came behind with 10 nominations.
Showmax’s hit telenovela, The Wife did not disappoint with 10 nods with its lead characters, Bonko Khoza (Mqhele Zulu), Abdul Khoza (Nqoba Zulu) and Zikhona Sodlaka (Mandisa), nominated in the ceremony’s coveted categories: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.
Veteran actress Busisiwe Lurayi, who recently passed away, also received a nomination in the Best Actress in a TV Comedy category for her role as Tumi Sello on Netflix’s How To Ruin Christmas.
New kids on the block, House of Zwide proved to be quite a hit as well with a whopping eight nominations. Its lead actor, Vusi Kunene, received the ‘Best Actor in Telenovela nod.
This year’s SAFTAs will take place between 2-3 September. Details on the venue have not yet been announced.
The 16th annual SAFTAs will be broadcast live on SABC 3 and Mzansi Magic (channel 161 on DStv)
Kudos to all the nominees
By Sinenzolo Mondi – Nduku
