NOMINEES NAMED FOR THIS YEAR’S SAFTAS
Soapie fans will get a chance to vote for their favourites
LOCAL television soapies High Rollers and Isibaya will battle it out for the top soap category at this year’s SA Film and Television Awards (Saftas).
This is the 11th year of the Saftas.
The popular shows topped the list of nominees for the awards, which were announced in Joburg yesterday.
High Rollers, which explores the world of gambling, and Isibaya, which centres on rivalry between two families in the taxi world, were nominated several times in the TV soap and telenovela category.
These include Best TV Soap and Telenovela, as well as Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Scriptwriting, Best Achievement in Post-production and Original Music.
However, Mzanzi Magic’s Isibaya was also nominated in the Best Achievement in Art Direction and Production Design.
Pallance Dladla, who plays Jabu on the show, also received a nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.
But the SABC’s High Rollers’ talent was also praised as two of their actors, Antony Coleman and Justin Strydom, were nominated in the Best Actor in a TV Soap or Telenovela category.
Other soapies which made the list of nominees in this category for the prestigious awards include fan favourites such as Uzalo, Generations, The Legacy and Gold Diggers.
Soapie fanatics can now decide which show will walk away with the award as they are invited to vote for the shows in the category.
A number of other acclaimed shows made the nomination list in other categories. Among them is Real Talk with Anele, a new SABC talk show which is hosted by media personality Anele Mdoda, who was nominated as Best Talk Show Host.
The show was also nominated for Best Talk Show while Afrikaans game show Noot vir Noot, which is in its 41st season (started in 1976, first year of TV in the country), made the list for Best Reality Show.
The Saftas also commend those making strides in the movie and documentary world.
This year, the top contenders in the Best Feature Film category are local drama Sink and Noem My Skollie, a South African crime film.
There are 258 nominees for this year’s Saftas, which were chosen from 441 entries which production houses submitted.
John Kani, who is one of the three overall judging chairpersons among the entire panel comprising 181 Safta judges, said they had done their best when selecting the nominees.
“We did a great and honest job and all nominees are winners,” he insisted.
The Saftas will take place from March 16 to 18 at Sun City and will be broadcast live on SABC.
Those who want to vote for their favourite soapie and best presenter can do so by sending an SMS to 48430. The lines will be open until March 16.
The codes for each one are available on http://www.nfvf. co.za/home/