Submission deadline for SAFTAS 7 entries extended

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has extended the closing date for the call for local production companies to submit their entries for the 7th annual South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs). The closing date has been extended to Thursday the 27th of September 2012 at 16h00 with a penalty fee of R350.00 per entry. The penalty fee will be payable for all the entries that will be received after the initial closing date which was the 20th of September 2012.

The SAFTAs, managed under the custodianship of the National Film and Video Foundation, are an industry initiative governed by the SAFTAS committee and the body of industry representatives comprising of the broadcasters, SASFED and other key stakeholders.

The basic guidelines for the eligibility of entries are as follows:

    For TV fiction, non-fiction, student films and TV animation, only South African films and television programmes that have been produced and publicly exhibited or broadcast between the 1st of August 2011 and the 12th of August 2012 are eligible to enter.

    For feature film and feature length animation, only South African films produced and publicly exhibited or broadcast between the 1st of January 2012 and the 31st of December 2012 are eligible to enter. Only productions that are entered will be eligible for consideration.

"We once again begin the most exciting journey in the film and television industry calendar. This is a time where the industry comes together with the aim of recognizing and celebrating the best of South African talent in film and television. As we commence this process leading to the industry's annual prestigious event, we call upon the industry to support every stage of the SAFTAs to ensure another successful event.

The SAFTAs have come a long way in the past six years and we look forward to working with the industry to grow the event further," says the NFVF CEO and SAFTAs Chairperson Zama Mkosi.

The SAFTAs has since its inception honoured individuals and productions in the following categories: TV Non-fiction, TV Fiction, Feature Films, Short Films, Student Films and Animation. The awards also honour the lifetime achievers with the Special Lifetime Achievement awards given to those esteemed individuals who have long served the industry in various categories.

This year the SAFTAS launches a new category called Best International Adaptations. This award will recognise the programmes originating from international formats. These would include shows like Survivor, SA Idols, So you think you can dance and SA's got Talents.

The system that the SAFTA Committee introduced last year of incorporating the previous SAFTA winners and nominees to the judging panels will be utilized again this year. This system was introduced with the aim of encouraging peer recognition within the industry and to ensure that there is transparency throughout the process.

As with the previous years, the public will also get the opportunity to vote for their Best Soapie.

For complete rules and guidelines of the SAFTAs, click here.

All the entries should be submitted through an online entry system which can be found on the SAFTA Entries website, click here to visit the SAFTA Entries website.

The new closing date for entries is Thursday the 27th of September 2012.

The glittering awards ceremony for the 7th annual SAFTAs will be held in March 2013 where all winners will be announced and will be presented with the official SAFTA trophy, the Golden Horn.

Schuster teams up with Walt Disney

South African funny man, actor and movie producer, Leon Schuster (Mr. Bones) has secured a deal with the Walt Disney Company. The Hollywood company has agreed to partly finance his new venture that is still unnamed and was apparently inspired by a Jamie Uys movie.


Disney has indicated, through its publicity company in South Africa, that the support for Schuster is a firm indication of its commitment to the local entertainment industry.


The movie will have the full support of Disney's marketing and distribution infrastructure.


Disney has not guaranteed sales of the movie in overseas markets but has given the assurance that it will work hard to secure various international deals once the movie is completed.

Blitz Patrollie a South African buddy cop movie

Famous South African comedian Kagiso Lediga has written a buddy cop comedy set in Johannesburg. The film, produced by Diprente Films and directed by Andrew Wessels started shooting in Johannesburg on Friday 09th of September 2011.


The film chronicles the adventures of Rummy Augustine (Joey Rasdien) and his partner, Ace Dikolobe (David Kau), police officers who have had the misfortune of being stationed in a little known depot in the belly of the Johannesburg CBD. Rummy is bogged down with trying to start a family and an overbearing mother-in-law who just won't move out. The overzealous Ace, on the other hand, can think of nothing better to do in the morning than to put on his "lucky" bulletproof vest and head out to kick some bad guy ass.


The script was conceived out of the writer's passion for stories that resonate with a young and vibrant South Africa with a penchant for comedy - an audience Lediga is familiar with both on stage and on the small screen.
Blitz Patrollie pays homage to Johannesburg, an African economic and cultural giant, and is shot on location in the lush Northern Suburbs, the gritty streets of the CBD, the familiar township landscape and everywhere in between. The city and its many contradictions are at the very core of the film’s narrative.


Blitz Patrollie is the first feature film to come out of Diprente Films. The producers are excited about the quality of talent both in front of and behind the camera and envision that the film will be an impressive and memorable contribution to the growing South African film landscape.


The movie will be distributed by the National Film and Video Foundation and is scheduled for release in South Africa in 2012.

Kenyan criminal's bestseller made into blockbuster

Kenyadian Productions a Kenya/Canada production company has confirmed that they have begun penning a screenplay adaptation of Kenyan author John Kirimati’s bestselling novels- My Life In Crime, My life With A Criminal and My Life in Prison. The production company, which was in talks with East Africa Publishers for 2 years for the film rights, recently secured the film rights for 7 years.

My Life In Crime (working title) is slated to begin filming at the end of 2011 with the release due in 2012. “We are still not sure of the title of the movie yet,” said Neil Schell Director and producer of the film. “We thought we would use the most popular book’s title- My Life In Crime, because it easily translates to Kenyans and it also gives anyone unfamiliar with the books a clue as to what the film is about.”

The treatment for My Life in Crime, which will combine all three books, has recently been completed. “I was very particular about how the story was to be laid out which is what is done during the treatment stage,” said Schell. “There are so many story events in the three books that one has to decide what to leave in and what to leave out and then appropriately build the story so that the audience enjoys the movie the entire way.”

Schell explained that they have commissioned gifted Kenyan writer Serah Mwihaki to pen the screenplay adaptation of the book based on her quality. “We decided to go with Serah after many interviews with many writers here in Kenya,” Schell stated. “Out of all the applications Serah’s work was the most exciting and interesting. She captured the essence of the story and that is crucial.”

As the title suggests the My Life In Crime book series is an autobiographical tale of John Kiriamiti a Kenyan criminal who featured on the country’s most wanted list in the 1960s and 1970s. In the books Kiriamiti re-counts how he got into the life of criminality as a petty thief, his rise into the Kenyan most wanted list and his subsequent incarceration. It was during his stay in prison that Kiriamiti wrote My Life in Crime, the first book in the series. The book has since been chronicled as Kenya’s best‐selling novel of the early 1980s.

Schell, who has appeared in films such as A-Team, Watchmen, Dr. Dolittle and directed several TV series’, stated that the film will be a period piece. “My Life In Crime will be true to the time period- Kenya in the late 60’s through to the mid 80’s,” he said. “The film will be gritty, hard and be filled with all the action a highly sought after gangster can muster up.”

Impressive Numbers in SA Cinema

I have been doing a bit of reading and have discovered some have interesting figures in the realm of Cinema in Africa specifically South Africa. Apparently the South African film industry is currently worth an estimated R2.65 Billion in the Western Cape alone. The Gauteng province follows in second place with an estimated value of an impressive R1.1 billion with Kwazulu Natal commanding a strong R236 million cinema value.

By 20 14 it is envisioned that south Africa will be one of the leading producers of film and TV content from Africa and middle east. This growth has been attributed to the SA government thru their department of Trade and Industry (DTI). DTI has actively invested in this sector to create the necessary conducive environment for growth.

More African governments should take a page out of South Africa’s book and invest heavily in the cinema sector.

Mediatech Africa will be showcasing the latest filmmaking technology

There is no denying that in that past the business of making motion pictures was exclusively for the rich and famous. However, major advancements in the field of technology have resulted in the affordability of recording equipment. This development has led to a massive boost in the number of movies coming out of Africa. Nowadays any ‘Simba, Jamal and Hakeem’ can now grab a camcorder and shoot a film of some sort.

Because of this directly proportional relationship between media technological advancements and the number of films produced I have come to appreciate important trends in media technology. MEDIATECH AFRICA, the continent ‘s largest advanced media technology trade exhibition, is a perfect stop to see all the latest film recording gadgets and trends in film production. Following the success of the previous years, the biennial trade exhibition, will again showcase cutting edge technologies and services from industry leaders in:
• Broadcast, Film, Production & Post Production
• Pro AV, Sound, Lighting, Staging and Rigging
• AV & Broadcast System Integration
• Animation, New Media, Mobile & On-line
• Satellite and Signal
• Musical Instruments & DJ Equipment
• Computer Music and Production Tools

Filmmakers in the continent should diarise July 20, 2011 because the Screen Africa Technology and Production will taking place at this year’s Mediatech Africa trade exhibition. Among the topics that will be discussed is ‘3D PRODUCTION FLOW’.

This is a practical workshop which demonstrates to delegates what it takes to shoot 3D in the field. The workshop will bring delegates up to speed on the latest 3D techniques and the possible future of 3D. The critical variables and pitfalls of shooting 3D will be discussed. The workshop is pitched at an introductory level.

African Cinemas on wheels

The problem with Africa is that bad politics affects every bit of our lives- movie watching included. There are many countries in the motherland that have closed down movie theatres for political reasons. For these unfortunate countries, however, there is ‘MobiCINE’ a new initiative that is changing the way cinema is viewed.

MobiCINE is basically cinema on motor cycles. It operates in a safe and easy manner. Each MobiCINE carried on a motor cycle in a ‘black box’ (a flight-case lodging a 1.300 lumens beamer plus a laptop). Also included in the Mobile cinema set are self-amplified loudspeakers, a 2,40m screen and a power generator plus 50 buckets used as theatre seats.

The film files that are loaded on the laptop are encrypted, and can be unlocked only by a digital ‘token’, which is prepaid by the exhibitor. Allcables and plugs of the PC and beamer are sealed, so as to prevent any unauthorized show.

Since Monday, May 9, 2011 seven mobiCINE units have cruised on the roads in Dakar with seven more to go in Bamako in June. This new development is a path breaking screening system in Africa. It is certainly offering a new way of watching films in places where all legal movie theatres have shut down.

The project has received funding from ACP Films, the Jan Vrijman Fund, and the French embassies in Dakar and Bamako.Organizers say the initiative is giving African filmmakers a chance to reach local audiences and develop a legitimate B.O. model they now lack.