South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA)

Overview

The South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) are South Africa's national awards for screen content, presented by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The 19th edition (SAFTAs19) took place on March 13 and 14, 2026, at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg. The NFVF postponed the ceremony from 2025 to March 2026 due to organizational changes and a strategic realignment to match the global awards calendar.

The awards cover both film and television across feature films, TV drama, telenovela, comedy, soap, documentary, animation, short film, and craft categories. The trophy is the Golden Horn. SAFTAs19 covered an 18-month eligibility window (January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) as a one-time exception due to the schedule shift. Eligibility reverts to a 12-month cycle for future editions.

The SAFTAs19 winners list and entry guidelines are published on the NFVF website.

History

SAFTA was established in 2005 when representatives of the South African film and television industry resolved to create a national awards ceremony with guidance from the NFVF. The first ceremony was held in 2006, replacing the earlier SAA Film Awards and consolidating South African screen recognition under a single national ceremony.

The awards reflect the growth of South Africa's film industry following the end of apartheid in 1994. South Africa has the most developed film infrastructure on the African continent, with studios in Cape Town and Johannesburg serving both domestic productions and international co-productions. The country's 11 official languages produce diverse storytelling traditions, and the SAFTAs honor work across this linguistic and cultural spectrum.

The SAFTAs19 schedule shift from 2025 to March 2026 resulted from organizational changes within the NFVF, including leadership transitions and strategic realignment. The NFVF confirmed the new date only after consulting with industry stakeholders.

Eligibility and Submission Rules

Who Can Enter

• South African citizens and official permanent residents of the Republic of South Africa (per the South African Citizenship Act, 1995)
• Companies registered in accordance with South African law, whose majority shareholding is held by South African citizens
• Content must be submitted by the production company; if a film or show is not submitted, it cannot be considered

Submission Process

• All entries are submitted online at www.saftasonline.co.za
• The submission deadline for SAFTAs19 was September 25, 2025 (later extended to October 3, 2025)
• Producers select all categories and sub-categories their content should be considered for
• There is no entry fee

Feature Film Eligibility

• Must have been publicly exhibited to a paying audience for a minimum of 7 consecutive days (in aggregate) during the eligibility period
• The eligibility period for SAFTAs19 was January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 (18-month window, one-time exception)
• For SAFTAs20 (March 2027), eligibility will be July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 (12-month cycle)

Television Eligibility

• Must have been broadcast on television, streamed online, or screened in cinemas during the eligibility period
• Reruns are not eligible

Disqualification Rules

• Categories receiving 3 or fewer entries are cancelled, meaning no SAFTA is awarded in that category for that year
• Entries in cancelled categories may be redirected to the closest appropriate category at the judges' discretion
• If no suitable alternative category exists, the entry is not eligible for judging

Voting Process

SAFTAs19 received 434 compliant entries, reviewed by a jury of 156 film and television industry professionals appointed through an open-call process. The judges sat on 20 panels organized by craft discipline, with each panel containing 8 to 16 members grouped by skills.

The judging process runs in two phases, both audited by SNG Grant Thornton. Phase 1 covers evaluation and scoring, where judges view entries individually and score them. Phase 2 covers deliberation, where panels discuss scores and select nominees and winners. For SAFTAs19, Phase 1 ran from October 31, 2025 to January 7, 2026. Phase 2 ran from January 15 to 21, 2026.

The SAFTAs have 102 total categories: 97 judged by the jury and 5 discretionary awards evaluated by the SAFTAs Committee. Two categories use public voting: Best TV Presenter and Most Popular TV Soap or Telenovela. Judges must declare conflicts of interest before evaluating entries. Any judge with involvement in a submitted project moves to a different panel.

Key Categories

SAFTAs categories are divided into Craft categories and Main Show categories. The full category list for SAFTAs19 included:

Film Categories

• Best Feature Film
• Best Achievement in Directing - Feature Film
• Best Actor in a Feature Film and Best Actress in a Feature Film
• Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film and Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film
• Best Achievement in Cinematography - Feature Film
• Best Achievement in Editing - Feature Film
• Best Achievement in Sound - Feature Film
• Best Achievement in Production Design - Feature Film
• Best Achievement in Original Music/Score - Feature Film
• Best Achievement in Visual Effects - Feature Film
• Best Documentary Feature
• Best Documentary Short
• Best Short Film
• Best Animation
• Best Natural History

Television Categories

• Best TV Drama
• Best Telenovela
• Best TV Comedy
• Best TV Soap
• Best Actor/Actress in a TV Drama
• Best Actor/Actress in a Telenovela
• Best Actor/Actress in a TV Comedy
• Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Telenovela
• Best Achievement in Directing - TV Drama
• Best Achievement in Directing - Telenovela
• Best Achievement in Editing - Telenovela
• Best Achievement in Original Music/Score - Telenovela
• Best Achievement in Sound - Documentary
• Best Achievement in Editing - Documentary
• Best Achievement in Cinematography - Documentary
• Best Achievement in Directing - Documentary
• Best TV Presenter (public vote, sponsored by Flight Centre)

Discretionary Awards

• Lifetime Achiever Award (two recipients per year)
• Outstanding Person with Disability Contributor Award
• Youth Achiever Award
• Emerging Filmmaker Award

Recent Winners / Nominees

SAFTAs19 (March 13 to 14, 2026)

Key film winners:

• Best Feature Film: Death of a Whistleblower
• Best Actress in a Feature Film: Sandra Prinsloo (A Kind of Madness)
• Best Actor in a Feature Film: Ian Roberts (A Kind of Madness)
• Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film: June Van Wiksilwers
• Best Achievement in Directing - Feature Film: Death of a Whistleblower
• Best Achievement in Editing - Feature Film: Death of a Whistleblower
• Best Achievement in Cinematography - Feature Film: Death of a Whistleblower
• Best Documentary Short: Mathonga Elizwe

Key television winners:

• Best TV Drama: Reyka 2
• Best Telenovela: Youngins
• Best TV Comedy: The Morning After
• Best TV Soap: Scandal!
• Best Actress in a TV Drama: Gail Mabalane (Unseen Season 2)
• Best Actor in a TV Drama: Frank Opperman (Nerens, Noord-Kaap Deel 2)
• Best Actress in a Telenovela: Nelisiwe Sibiya (iThonga)
• Best Actor in a Telenovela: Bonko Khoza (iThonga)
• Best Actress in a TV Comedy: Desire Gardner (Magda Louw Season 2)
• Best Actor in a TV Comedy: Hannes van Wyk (Magda Louw Season 2)
• Best Achievement in Directing - TV Drama: Catch Me A Killer
• Most Popular TV Soap or Telenovela (public vote): Inimba S1

Production company results:

• Tshedza Pictures: 7 awards (including multiple wins for iThonga and Youngins)
• Quizzical Pictures: 6 Golden Horns
• Wolflight Films: 6 Golden Horns
• Ochre Media: 5 Golden Horns

Discretionary awards:

• Lifetime Achiever: Bobby Heaney and Magic Hlatshwayo
• Outstanding Person with Disability Contributor: Erik Holm (actor, Binnelanders)
• Youth Achiever: Sandulela Biyana
• Emerging Filmmaker: Ntokozo Mlaba
• Best TV Presenter (public vote): Fezile Mkhize (prize: 7-night Eastern Mediterranean cruise valued at R160,000)

Eligibility Quirks That Trip People Up

Mistake: Assuming your film automatically qualifies once it screens publicly.

Correct rule: The production company must actively submit the entry. If no one submits your film, it cannot be considered, regardless of eligibility.

Mistake: Entering a reality show in the soap category because it aired on TV.

Correct rule: Entries in the wrong category face disqualification. Judges do not reclassify entries; the production company must select the correct category at submission.

Mistake: Assuming a category will run every year.

Correct rule: Categories receiving 3 or fewer entries are cancelled for that year. Niche categories like animation, natural history, and short film face the highest risk. Verify your category has sufficient entries before building awards strategy around it.

Mistake: Counting a rerun broadcast as eligible television content.

Correct rule: Only first-run broadcasts, first-time streaming releases, or first cinema screenings qualify. Reruns are not eligible regardless of when they air.

Mistake: Assuming the eligibility window is always 12 months.

Correct rule: SAFTAs19 used an 18-month window (January 2024 to June 2025) as a one-time exception. From SAFTAs20 onward, the cycle runs July to June. Films released in the second half of the year compete in the following year's ceremony.

Prestige Tier

The SAFTAs sit as the highest domestic screen award in South Africa. Within the African awards landscape, FESPACO (Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou) holds greater continental prestige with its Etalon d'Or de Yennenga, the top prize in African cinema. The Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) also carry broader pan-African recognition.

The SAFTAs occupy a national tier below these pan-African awards but above regional or provincial recognition. Internationally, a SAFTA win does not carry the weight of an Oscar, BAFTA, or Cannes selection. However, SAFTA recognition directly influences NFVF funding decisions and qualifies winners for consideration under the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition's film incentive programs.

For South African filmmakers, the SAFTA serves the same function that the German Film Award (Lola) serves for German filmmakers or the Cesar serves for French filmmakers. It is the definitive national recognition that signals domestic industry approval.

Business Impact for Filmmakers

A SAFTA win directly affects funding decisions from the NFVF and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. The South African Film and Television Production and Co-Production Incentive offers a rebate of up to 35% for qualifying South African productions. The Foreign Film and Television Production and Post-Production Incentive offers up to 25% for qualifying foreign productions shooting in South Africa. SAFTA recognition strengthens applications for both programs.

SAFTA recognition also raises a film's profile with African and international distributors. South Africa's co-production treaties with Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Australia mean that SAFTA recognition carries weight beyond national borders. Distributors use SAFTA wins as a marketing credential when acquiring South African content for international territories.

The 18-month eligibility window for SAFTAs19 created an unusually large pool of eligible content. Filmmakers with productions released between January 2024 and June 2025 had a one-time opportunity to compete against nearly two years of output. From SAFTAs20 onward, the 12-month cycle (July to June) aligns with the global awards calendar.

What Filmmakers Should Know

Submit through the SAFTAs online portal before the deadline, and select your categories carefully because wrong-category entries face disqualification. The production company, not individual filmmakers, must submit the entry. There is no entry fee, which removes a financial barrier, but the onus is entirely on the producer to initiate the process.

Verify that your target category received more than 3 entries, because categories with 3 or fewer entries are cancelled. For niche categories like animation and natural history, this risk is highest. If your category is cancelled, judges may redirect your entry to the closest appropriate category, but only if a suitable alternative exists.

The key trade-off: SAFTA recognition carries strong domestic weight but limited international reach. If your distribution strategy targets African or international markets, pair SAFTA submission with festival runs at FESPACO, Durban International Film Festival, or major European festivals to build broader recognition.

Watch

See Also

For understanding how awards affect distribution deals, see Distribution Deals Explained. To model revenue projections for award-winning releases, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator. For evaluating the cost of submitting to multiple award categories against projected career returns, use the Ad Spend Break-Even Calculator.