The awards take on the theme this year of the “South African Story,” tying in with the brand of the Golden Horn, which is steeped in African communal history.
The judging process, which began with a filtration phase, took roughly three months to conclude. Once the entries had all been filtered, they were subsequently taken to the final judging phase, where the judges decided upon the nominees and eventual winners from the filtered entries. Over 180 production title entries that are South African and met the entry requirements were submitted to the SAFTA committee.
The SAFTAs recognise practitioners in the South African film and television industry, with the primary objective being to honour, celebrate and promote the creativity, quality and excellence of talent and productions, and to encourage entrepreneurship and the development of new talent within the industry.
Said Azania Muendane, acting marketing manager of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), “This session of the SAFTAS began with a successful entry period and with tremendous support from the industry at large; they are generally all behind the project 100%.
“The judging has been a long and intricate process filled with much debate and analysis but overall a great experience for all involved. Every year the awards grow stronger and this is evident in the rise in air-ratings from SAFTAS 2006 to SAFTAS 2007.”
Over 70 awards nominations were announced for the following categories: Feature films, Documentary, Student and Short films, as well as TV Dramas, Soapies, Comedies, Reality, Gameshows, Wildlife shows, Talkshows, Magazine shows and News and Actuality Programmes, Animation, Variety shows and Sports Shows with the addition of Music Shows. Public voting will play a bigger role with regard to the Soapie genre, with the addition of character awards for Best Hero/Heroine, Best Comic, Best Dressed and Best Villain/Villainess.
The SAFTAs 2009 also introduce an additional award for Best Newcomer. This will be presented to an individual who has recently entered the industry either in the technical or performance field and has displayed outstanding effort in his or her work as a newcomer. Another category to look out for is the Lifetime Achievement Award, which is awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the industry. Both award nominations are still open for entry until 10 December 2008 and the industry are encouraged to submit names and motivations for these respective nominations.
The SAFTAs committee, spearheaded by NFVF CEO Eddie Mbalo, appointed Mandla Langa and Hanellie Bekker to be the joint chairs of the SAFTA 2009 judging panels. Responsible for overseeing the entire process of the judging phase, they made up the body that accounts for all results and to whom all judges account to. The judging panels consisted of over 50 industry practitioners who are both specialists in their field and recognised individuals within the industry.
“These nominations are the outcome of a concerted and rigorous effort by the many people involved in the judging process to apply their professional judgment and insight to yet another crop of great South African television and film production. Our congratulations go out, so long, to all nominees - each of which, it was felt, had significant merit,” said Bekker.
The SAFTAs - The Golden Horn awards will be held at a glittering event that will take place at the State Theatre in Pretoria on Saturday, 7 February 2009, with live transmission at 8pm on SABC2.
