The South African Film and Television Awards (Safta) announced this year’s nominees in 92 categories.
One of the big surprises was that the first-ever Showmax Original, Thali’s Wedding Diary, received seven nominations.
This is the first time a show that has only been available on a streaming platform has been nominated.
The 13th Saftas will return to Sun City for two award shows this year.
The technical awards will be on March 1, with the acting and creative awards the following evening, to be broadcast live from 7pm.
MultiChoice-backed productions received the most nods this year.
This is the second year the paid broadcaster led in the number of nominations for shows on its various channels.
Nominations include 1Magic’s new telenovela, The River, with 17 nominations and Mzansi Magic’s Isibaya, with nine.
Afrikaans channel kykNET recieved 60 nominations in various categories, while M-Net’s local reality shows Survivor SA, My Kitchen Rules SA and Dancing with the Stars received nods.
“We play an important role in the African film and television production industry by investing heavily in local talent and production development,” said CEO of general entertainment at MultiChoice Yolisa Phahle.
“It is paying off. We are changing the dynamic from international content consumption to consistently bringing our audiences the best stories on all the DStv platforms.”
This year the public can again vote for their favourite presenter and soapie, a highly coveted award at the Saftas. To see the voting codes visit nfvf.co.za
Best TV Presenter
Most Popular TV Soap/Telenovela
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