Awards season South Africa has arrived, which means South Africa’s film and television industry had its annual ritual of sequins, speeches and the spotlight on that curious species of extroverts who work in entertainment. The South African Film and Television Awards, better known as the Saftas, took place at the weekend.
The clever thing about this year’s ceremony is that many of the frontrunners are already sitting on your streaming platforms, waiting to be binge-watched straight after someone has stood on a stage calling them “extraordinary.”
Mince Jou Hare, a Showmax comedy, captures what we all know: a suburban hair salon can be high drama. The series follows Frieda, played by Melissa de Vries, who quits her factory job to open a salon at home, detonating a small-town social bomb in the process.
If you’ve ever watched a hairdresser casually dismantle someone’s life while trimming their fringe, you’ll recognise the tone.
The show racked up 11 nominations, including best TV comedy, directing for David and Shimmy Isaacs, and a nod for makeup and (well) hairstyling.
On the more apocalyptic end of the entertainment spectrum is The Fix. This dystopian body-horror film imagines a future where the air is toxic and a model — played by Stranger Things actor Grace van Dien — takes a designer drug that causes dramatic mutations. Naturally, shadowy organisations want the secret, because it might just save the human race.
It’s part sci-fi, part horror, part philosophical panic attack — and it was up for 11 Golden Horns, including best feature film and best director for Kelsey Egan.
If dystopian mutations feel too close to the evening news, you might prefer Ithonga, the most-nominated telenovela this year. Set in the muscular world of KwaZulu-Natal’s construction mafias, the series stars Bonko Khoza as twin brothers Banele and Sanele — one good, one morally adventurous.
There’s also a mystical bond involved, which in television terms usually means things are about to get very complicated.
Then there’s Reyka, the crime drama that proves South Africa can produce noir as beautifully as anywhere. In its second season, profiler Reyka Gama investigates attacks on couples along Durban harbour, a setting so atmospheric you can smell the saltwater and secrets.
Between them, these shows and films represent the deliciously chaotic ecosystem of South African storytelling — comedy, dystopia, crime and telenovela all elbowing each other for space on the red carpet.
The main awards show was simulcast live on Mzansi Magic (channel 161) and SABC2 on Saturday. yesterday
