Saftas on social media

CORONAVIRUS: THIS YEAR’S AWARDS HELD ONLINE DUE TO LOCKDOWN

Big winner was production house Tshedza Pictures with 17 awards.

Even a very late start to the 2020 South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas) on Wednesday didn’t detract from the spectacle.

This is the first major awards to be presented on social media in South Africa, with major talent taking part in the star-studded affair.

Usually the Saftas is a red-carpet event, but this year’s awards were very different.

Winners could say their thank-you’s on Twitter and the like, while Dineo Ranaka hosted the live event.

The big winner was production house Tshedza Pictures, scooping 17 awards in a variety of categories.

Two of the biggest awards each year are the ones voted for by the public: the Best Presenter and Best TV Soap or Telenovela.

South Africa’s Best Television Presenter Award was Hectic on 3’s

Entle Bizana, with the Most Popular TV Soap/Telenovela awarded to Imbewu on eTV.

The free-to-air channel also managed to win in nearly all the soap and Telenovela categories, with Scandal and Rhythm City actors bagging the most awards.

Afrikaans soapie Opera also clinched it’s first win in the Best Scripwriting category, while Thembi Mtshale-Jones received this year’s Lifetime Achievement award.

There was also good news for some of the winning actors, who many currently can’t work due to lockdown restrictions.

Best Actor in a Telenovela and Best Actress in a Telenovela categories each received R50 000.

But many sponsors of the awards also had to keep business afloat, and pulled out of this year’s event due to financial issues connected with the national lockdown.

“We thank the industry for understanding and supporting the National Film and Video Foundation [NFVF] in the difficult decisions that had to be made during this crisis and the NFVF is fully committed to ensuring that the industry gets as much support as it needs during a time where livelihoods are heavily impacted,” said NFVF CEO Makhosazana Khanyile.