Joburg Film Festival celebrates magic of African film makingĀ
The seventh edition of the Joburg Film Festival, hosted by MultiChoice took place last week at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
Shwa was also there to see the exciting mix of films from both local and international creators.Ā
On Saturday evening, the festival reached its exciting climax with the awards gala event. Industry professionals gathered in anticipation of the announcement of the best films.Ā Ā
The Best Short Film award went to the local African folklore tale Why the Cattle Wait (Phumi Morare.)Ā
Sugar Land (Johanne Gomez Terrero), a Dominican Republic feature, claimed the Best Edit accolade. The Best Documentary award went to Ernest Cole: Lost and Found (Raoul Peck), the powerful and thought-provoking film that opened the festival and made its African premiĆØre.Ā Ā
HAPPY: The Real Happy Sindane Story (Vusi Africa), a gripping South African feature, took home the Best African Feature Film award.Ā The Best Feature Film award went to Blind Love (Julian Chou), a touching coming-of-age story about a sensitive teenager who uncovers his motherās secret affair with a mysterious woman.Ā Ā
Joburg Film Festivalās Special Recipient Award was presented to the legendary South African industry icon, Mfundi Vundla, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the countryās film and television landscape.Ā Ā
Care to share how long Generations is going to last, Mr Vundla?Ā
The Jury Special Mention was awarded to The Shadow Scholar (Eloise King), a bold and thought-provoking film that sheds light on the often-hidden world of shadow education, exploring how it affects both students and society.Ā
This yearās festival featured an esteemed jury made up of renowned filmmakers and industry experts from around the globe. Among them was South African actress Sthandiwe Kgoroge (Generations, Yizo Yizo) known for her outstanding performances in both film and television.Ā Ā
The jury also included multi-award winning filmmaker Muneera Sallies (Old Righteous Blues, Twisted Christmas), Yolanda Ncokotwana, broadcaster, story consultant, entrepreneur, executive producer, funding specialist, policy maker, and currently the head of industry development at the NFVF.Ā
The Joburg Film Festival concludes with a heartfelt finale tomorrow afternoon, featuring the South African family comedy Timmy The Kid as its closing film. Directed by the father-son duo of Gray and Ziggy Hofmeyr, and produced by Nyikiwe Mathye, this uproarious film follows Timmy, a middle-aged farmer and aspiring cowboy, as he heads to the city to scatter his motherās ashes ā only to stumble through mishap after mishap.Ā Ā
Kenneth Nkosi stars as Timmy, alongside Lillian Dube, Sandile Mahlangu, and Celeste Ntuli.Ā Ā
Shwa was able to spot Phil Mphela, Mona Monyane and Nambitha Ben-Mazwi.Ā
