14th Annual South African Film & Television Awards Returns to Joburg

14th Annual South African Film & Television Awards Returns to Joburg

Johannesburg, 23 January 2019: The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) today officially announced that the SAFTAs (South African Film and Television Awards), will be hosted on the 27^th (Craft Awards) and 28^th (Main televised awards) of March 2020 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Gauteng. Having had a stint at Sun City in the North-West Provinces the SAFTAs are back in the city of gold. The NFVF, as the custodians of the SAFTAs mandated by the Department of Sports Arts and Culture, is proud to present the 14^th instalment of these awards that recognises and honours South African talent, under the #LoveSATalent banner.

Over a two-day extravaganza, the industry will gather to once again witness the celebration and reward of the golden horn, as decided by a panel of over 200 judges. In a process that is run independent of any interference from the NFVF, the industry is called upon to make submissions in different categories and judging panels bear the heavy task of reviewing, debating and ultimately choosing the worthy nominees and ultimate winners.

This mammoth undertaking of running the industry awards would not be possible each year without the support of broadcast partners, commercial entities, as well as strategic partners who come on board to ensure that the industry gets the recognition they have worked hard for and the celebration they deserve. Some of the partners on board for SAFTAs 14 include but are not limited to Brand SA, SABC, M-Net, Mercedes Benz, Mall of Africa and Total. 

From the most dramatic cinematography and characters we love to hate and gripping storylines, the SAFTAs 14, will bring all the drama and intrigue as the country’s production teams vie for the behind the scenes awards at the Craft Awards on Friday, 27 March 2019, and the main awards show on Saturday, 28 March 2019. Rolled out in their honour, the red carpet is sure to dazzle as the stars come out to play. Audiences will not be left behind as they too would have had their chance to participate in deciding the outcome of two Public vote categories: Most Popular TV Soap or Telenovela and Best TV Presenter

“We are cognisant of the criticism that has been levelled towards the SAFTAs in past instalments and are keen to show the industry our commitment to benchmarking against best practise. To that end, the NFVF team met and consulted with the BAFTA’s team to see what learnings could be incorporated into making these awards better and as a result, some categories were revised and we feel we are inching closer to having an award show with proper with continued industry buy-in.” Commented Makhosazana Khanyile, Chief Executive Officer of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF): “Ensuring the credibility of the awards within the industry meant reaching out to some production companies that had previously boycotted the SAFTAs and we are pleased to announce that both Word of Mouth Production (Muvhango) and Ferguson Films (The Queen) have once again entered their work for consideration into the awards. And we continuously aim to improve the prestige of the golden horn.” further commented Makhosazana Khanyile.

The 14^th SAFTA’s ceremony will broadcast LIVE on Saturday, 28 March 2019 on SABC 2 at 19:00 from Sandton Convention Centre.

Follow the SAFTAs on all social media platforms for regular updates. Twitter: @saftas1 Instagram and Facebook: @saftassa

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