After two months of accepting entrants for consideration in this year’s edition of the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Film Awards nominations list, the organisers of these prestigious awards, the KwaZulu Natal Film Commission have announced the end of the call for entries.
The call for entries opened on 2 February 2017 and will close on 2 May 2017. During this period, hundreds of individual entries were received and considered for the awards, set to take place during this year’s edition of Durban International Film Festival in July.
Since inception, five years ago, the annual award ceremony has given a platform to KwaZulu Natal filmmakers, celebrating their outstanding achievements across a range of categories.
The awards themselves have continued to grow in stature and influence, shining the spotlight on the talent that resides within the province of KwaZulu-Natal, while also honoring some of the provinces’ stars in the film and television industry.
The fifth edition of the awards will take place at the height of the Durban International Film Festival, which runs from 13 July until 23 July 2017.
“The awards are an important part of the province’s social calendar, and form part of the Department of Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairs incentive for the film industry and local tourism,’ says MEC Sihle Zikalala Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA).
“Initially, the brainchild of former MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu who foresaw the need to honour and celebrate the province’s film and television talent’, added Zikalala. “The awards have given the province the much needed boost in instilling pride among the province’s talented actors and film makers,’ concluded Zikalala.
This has resulted in the awards being regarded as the province’s premium film and television awards – contributing towards uniting the country and the province’s film and television talent under one roof as the province honours its own heroes and heroines of the small and big screen.
The categories range from best actor, to best actress accolades, best supporting actor and best supporting actress to best newcomer and best director. Other categories include best screenplay, best use of KZN locations, best documentary short and best student film.
In a bid to celebrate the province’s biggest film and television contributors, the awards through its two lifetime achievement accolades honours some of the province’s legends who over time have contributed to putting the province on the map.
Simon Mabhunu Sabela, in whose honour the awards are named, was a legend in both the small and big screen. He was a revered actor, director and producer with a career spanning over four decades, resulting in over 34 movies, locally and internationally.
On the big night over 23 awards will be handed out to the deserving winners, carefully selected though an extensive adjudicating process. But before then, the judges will have their work cut out for them, as they go through the infiltration judging phase, before nominees are announced, shortly before big night of the awards.
