FESTIVALS AWARDS EVENTS NEWS

Biggest SAFTAS ever

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:54

A record number of entries (233) and judges (104) characterises the 2012 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAS), which will be presented on 10 and 11 March at a Johannesburg venue to be announced in February.

This is the sixth edition of the SAFTAS which honour, celebrate and promote the creativity, quality and excellence of the local film and TV industry.

At the time of going to press the final judging phase had commenced with final votes to be cast between 30 January and 6 February. Nominees will be announced by Azania Muendane, SAFTAS project manager and the National Film and Video Foundation’s (NFVF) head of Marketing and Public Affairs, on 8 February. The voting line for TV viewers to vote for their favourite soap will also open on this date.

A session to brief judges on final judging phase procedures was held at the NFVF’s headquarters in Johannesburg on 7 December. Muendane stressed that the NFVF is custodian of the SAFTAS only and is not — in any way — involved in the actual judging process.

Said Muendane: “The filtration phase went very smoothly. Judges whittled down the large numbers of entries to 10 or less in each category. The SAFTAS auditors, Deloitte South Africa, are very pleased with the filtration proceedings as are our two overall judging chairpersons, Feizel Mamdoo and Jackie Motsepe. Feizel and Jackie do not vote – they oversee the judging process and only intervene if there are issues around validity of entry, suspected collusion or if panels are unable to reach consensus.

“Unlike previous SAFTAS, this time all judges will know who the winners are so we ask them to honour their confidentiality clauses.

“Since 2005, when the NFVF initiated the SAFTAS, the event has grown in profile to the extent that I now get calls from The Hollywood Reporter asking about the awards.”

Muendane noted that the 2012 SAFTAS will celebrate the country’s heritage as this year is the centenary of film, as well as several other centenaries in South Africa.

The number of entries in each category following filtration are: Sports – 1; Drama-Mini – 2; Drama Full – 3; Comedy – 5; Game Shows – 4; Animation – 4; TV Soaps – 6; News – 8; Talks Shows & Wildlife – 9; Documentary Feature – 9; Documentary Short – 9; Music Shows – 10; Reality – 11; Short Films – 10; Student Films – 11; Magazine – 7; Variety – 8; Youth & Children – 10; Feature Films – 10; and Factual – 8.

Mamdoo, who is the chairperson of the South African Screen Federation (SASFED), called on all judges to be open and transparent in the final phase of judging. “We need to protect the integrity of the awards. The structure of the judging process has been designed to prevent collusion and to date there has never been a breach of confidentiality at any SAFTAS event. Because these judges are all past winners and nominees they have a vested interest in ensuring the fairest possible judging.”

Motsepe, formerly with the NFVF and now with SABC, added: “It’s very exciting to be in the final judging and it’s wonderful how the SAFTAS have grown over the years. I found it interesting to see how many entries didn’t get through the filtration phase. Such a thorough filtration means that we’re left with the cream of the crop.”

Judging panels are free to grant special mentions for recognition that don’t fit into the categories and to international practitioners. Only South Africans are eligible for official SAFTA awards.

In previous years all judging took place by category only. This year the Non-Fiction categories remain but there are also several new panels: the art direction panel, the direction panel (to judge best director and best writer in feature film, drama, comedy, TV soap, documentary short, documentary feature and wildlife), the performance panel (to judge acting in feature films, comedy, drama and TV soap), the technical panel (cinematography, editing, sound, etc.) and the genre panel to decide on the best of genre winners. There is also the SSA panel for student films, short films and animation.

Said Carla Dias, the NFVF’s marketing coordinator: “This new model ensures that judging standards are the same across the board. It’s truly a case of peers judging peers as all judges are past SAFTA winners and nominees.”

According to Dias, feedback from last year’s event shows that the industry favours award ceremonies spread over two days, rather than one ceremony in the afternoon followed by the second in the evening. On 10 March all the non-fiction categories will be presented, with 11 March devoted to the fiction categories.

Masters of Ceremony (MCs), category presenters and performers will be appointed in January; once it is announced which company has won the pitch to stage the awards.

For more information about the SAFTAS visit: www.nfvf.co.za.

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