Entries are now open for the 5th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAS), which will take in early 2011. Eligible productions should have been produced and publicly exhibited or broadcast in South Africa between the 1st of August 2009 and the 31st of July 2010.
The official organiser of the SAFTAS, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), has set the deadline for close of entries as Friday, 16 July at 4pm. It has extended the closing date for the Feature Film and Life Time Achievement categories to 31 December.
SAFTAS categories are: TV Non-fiction, TV Fiction, Feature Films, Short Films, Student Films and Animation with Special Life Time achievement awards. The Best Newcomer category has also been added to honour individuals who have been in the film and television industry for a period of one year.
The SAFTAS Acting Project Manager Ryan Haidarian believes that the awards are a prestigious event that should be embraced by all film and television industry stakeholders, “There is no higher honour than having your industry peers recognise your talent and the SAFTAs has become South Africa’s premiere platform for doing that. We encourage all eligible productions to participate by submitting their entries before the closing dates.’
Members of the public are encouraged to nominate individuals who have, through the years, tirelessly contributed to the industry in the category of Life Time Achievement. Previous individuals who have been honoured in this category include Cynthia Shange, Joe Mafela, Dr John Kani and Katinga Heyns.
Rules and regulations can be obtained from the NFVF website: www.nfvf.co.za. This year entries can only be entered online at www.saftaregistration.co.za
After completing the online form, applicants will need to print the summary sheet and attach it to the DVD screeners to be submitted no later than Friday the 16th of July 2010 at 16:00 for TV submissions and the 31st of December 2010 for feature film entries.
Please deliver DVD screeners and summary sheets to:
SAFTAs
c/o NFVF
87 Central Street
Houghton
2198
Judging panels made up of industry organisation representatives, institutions, companies, media and general society will select the nominees and the eventual category award winners. As with previous years, the judging process will be overseen and verified by independent auditors.
