2019 Jozi Film Festival – it’s a wrap!

The 8^th Annual Jozi Film Festival Awards took place on 6 October 2019 at Il Giardino, 44 Stanley Ave, in Johannesburg.

CN&CO was the festival’s media, eventing and sponsorship partner, with the headline sponsors including Chubb Insurance, EasyEquities and Business and Arts South Africa.

Sean Steinberg made Jozi Film Festival history by walking away with three awards — Best South African Short Fiction Film for Axis Mundi (co-directed with Matthew Jankes) and Best South African Feature Film, (S)he. He also took home the Best Director award. (The pic above shows Sean and Matthew with their trophies.)

Tapiwa Gambura took home a cheque for $2 500 as the winner of JFF and Discovery Network’s “Real Stories By Real People” award. Her short documentary, Redefining the Road, about a Zimbabwean woman who is a bus conductor, garnered the most public votes. Handing over the award was SA’s RealTime ambassador and Metro FM talk show host, Relebogile Mabotja. In second and third place were Beyond Gender by Samuel Erhahon (Nigeria) and Fish On Fire by Peter Okojie (Nigeria). Twenty films were shortlisted in this category and will all be broadcast on RealTime channel this month. They can also be viewed at www.jozifilmfestival.com.

The winners for 2019 are:

• Best SA Feature Film: (S)he – Sean Steinberg
• Best Young Director: Mligane Dube (Isidima)
• Best Director: Sean Steinberg (Axis Mundi and (S)he)
• Best South African Documentary: Someone To Blame – Enver Michael Samuel
• Best International Documentary: Nigeria’s Lost Generation – Charlie Luckock (Nigeria)
• Best South African Short Documentary: Exorcist of Apartheid – Adam Heyns
• Best International Short Documentary: The Briefing – Filip Drzweicki (Poland)
• Best South African Short Fiction Film: Axis Mundi – Matthew Jankes and  Sean Steinberg
• Best International Short Fiction: JBurg – Matthew Gouveia (Canada)
• Best Music Video: Mangaliso (Bongiziwe Mabandla) Warwick Allan
• Best South African Student Film: Sunset Exodus – Dylan Brokensha

Honourable mentions:

• Tin Soldiers – Odette Schwegler (SA Feature Length Documentary)
• Shaka’s Mask – Maishe Mosala (SA Short Fiction)
• Miracle – Bongi Ndama (SA Short Fiction)
• Life’s A Drag – Kate D’Hotman (SA Short Fiction)

The evening was hosted by John Vlismas and the crowd was entertained by the Mzansi Youth Choir, whose performance was sponsored by RMB.