The 15th annual South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) will take place on the 22nd of May.
With over 140 nominations, Multichoice Group’s investment in local television and film productions has paid off once more as we lead the way ahead of the most prestigious award ceremony in South Africa.
“We are excited to once again see most of our shows scoop the bulk of this year’s SAFTA nominations. This is a win for local TV and film and demonstrates MultiChoice Group’s commitment to investing in local content to allow for local stories to be told by Africans,” says Yolisa Phahle, the CEO of General Entertainment for the MultiChoice Group.
“The nominations are also a testament to the incredible resilience of all the talent, cast and crew in various productions as our industry navigated the complexities brought on by the global Covid-19 pandemic, which were characterized by production stoppages and a period of uncertainty for many creatives,” she adds.
The most notable of these nominations are The River and Legacy, with 12 nominations each in the telenovela categories. With multiple SAFTA awards and an International Emmy nomination, The River has established itself as one of the biggest shows in South African history. Legacy on the other hand will be hoping to challenge The River’s past dominance in the telenovela categories and claim a few awards in the show’s first year of being eligible for nominations. Both shows are nominated for the prestigious Best Telenovela and Most Popular Telenovela awards while the stars of each show can be found among the acting nominees. Gomora and Arendsvlei also managed to rack up 5 nominations each in the telenovela categories including Most Popular Telenovela. Isibaya also earned 3 nominations while The Queen received 2 nominations.
In the drama categories, the M-Net original, Still Breathing, was nominated an astonishing 10 times after only one season on air, while fellow M-Net originals, Trackers and Inconceivable, earned 3 and 4 nominations respectively, including the coveted award for Best TV Drama. Housekeepers and Lockdown also managed to claim 4 and 5 nominations respectively while popular dramas like Fynskrif, Unmarried and Sara se Geheim also received nominations.
Griekwastad received an incredible 7 nominations in the feature film categories, including Best Feature Film and Best Achievement in Directing – Feature Film. A Christmas Chorus and Home Affairs - A Christmas Tale are both nominated for Best Made for TV Movie.
Hit soap, Binnelanders is nominated for 4 awards, including Best Achievement in Directing - TV Soap, while Suidooster is also up for 2 awards in the TV soap categories.
MultiChoice Studios is the content sales and distribution arm for the MultiChoice Group. Annually, we add thousands of hours of premium African content to our catalogue. All the SAFTA nominated series and films mentioned in this article are available to view on our official webpage.
