Awards in the entertainment do not only acknowledge success; they recognise many other qualities: ability, struggle, effort and, above all, excellence. Awards also serve an important role, both in discovery for watchers, listeners, and readers, and to push creators and companies to create and finance more prestige content. This helps to promote a better quality of media, and ultimately make our world a much more interesting one to live in.

In the last 25 years AFDA students and alumni excellence, talent and craftsmanship has been recognised at entertainment industry award ceremonies both locally and abroad.

In 2006 the AFDA honours graduation film, “Elalini”, directed by Tristan Holmes won the Student Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Foreign Language Student Film - the holy grail of film awards.

Moving back home, since the introduction of the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA’s) in 2006, AFDA students have won the Best Student Film award on 8 occasions. Our alumni and staff have picked up over 80 SAFTA Golden Horn awards and over 200 award nominations in all the different categories, fields and disciplines up for grabs at the SAFTA’s.

Recently AFDA students and alumni cinematographers made a formidable impact at the South African Society of Cinematographers Visible Spectrum Awards 2019, winning awards in 8 of the 13 categories and walking off with 13 of the 26 awards on offer.

At the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards earlier this year, AFDA Cape Town Live Performance 2018 student, Nancy Sekhokoane, strutted of the red carpet at the 54^th Fleur du Cap Awards with the Most Promising Student Actor award, making it two on the trot for AFDA students at the awards, after Luntu Masiza picked up the coveted award in 2018.

AFDA staff and alumni are no strangers to the stage at the Naledi Theatre Awards either. Last year AFDA staff picked up two awards - The Best Lead Performance in a Musical/Revue (Male) went to AFDA Johannesburg Head of Live Performance School, David Dennis, for Priscilla Queen of the Desert and the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play went to AFDA Johannesburg acting lecturer, Khutjo Green, for Moliere’s Tartuffe.

AT the Simon Sabela Awards in KZN AFDA Durban students won the Best Student Film Award for 5 years in a row and this year. At this years awards live performance graduate Sibongiseni Shezi won the Best Actress in a Feature Film award for her stand out performance in the AFDA Durban 2018 experimental film Run. This was a remarkable achievement considering she was competing against seasoned actresses in professional feature film category.

AFDA students, staff and alumni have made the Silwerskermfees home, with their films competing in competition in both the short and feature film categories year in and year out and in turn scooping up several awards at the KykNet festival on the way.

Here’s looking forward to another 25 years of award winners from AFDA!