mutlichoice SAFTA awards nominations

Scene from Five Fingers For Marseilles. Image supplied my Multichoice

Multichoice takes the lead with 149 SAFTA nominations [videos]

Multichoice has been crowned as the most nominated broadcaster for the 2019 South African Film and Television Awards.

mutlichoice SAFTA awards nominations

Scene from Five Fingers For Marseilles. Image supplied my Multichoice

The broadcaster can boast with the most nominated shows in all major categories, including feature film, TV comedy, TV Drama, soap and telenovela.

Yolisa Phahle, CEO for General Entertainment at Multichoice, said in a press release that their goal is to be the most-loved teller of African stories, and that is proving to be true. Phahle added:

“It takes a portfolio of production teams to faithfully cover the breadth of Africa’s stories, and I’m proud to say that as all of these nominations for MultiChoice entities show, the talented people at M-Net, 1Magic, kykNET, Mzansi Magic, and Showmax are the best in the industry. And this is just the beginning – we’ve got big plans for our original productions.”

Not only is Multichoice the biggest supporter of media entrepreneurs, but also the leading producer of South African and African film and television content.

The 13th annual SAFTA nominations were announced in Rosebank, Johannesburg, on 8 February, but viewers will have to wait until 3 March, when the winners will be announced at the SAFTA ceremony, broadcast live from Sun City.

In the meantime, let’s whet your appetite with a glimpse of what you can expect at the Awards Ceremony.

Read – SA film ‘Sew The Winter To My Skin’ receives international acclaim

Most nominated feature film (1) – Five Fingers For Marseilles

Five Fingers of Marseilles was nominated in no less than seven categories, including Best Director (Michael Matthews.) Five Fingers of Marseilles can be watched on Showmax.

Most nominated feature film (2) – Nommer 37

Nommer 37, produced by kykNet, also received seven nominations, including Best Feature Film, Best Actor (Irshaad Ally) and Best Actress (Monique Rockman.)

Most nominated telenovela – The River

The River received a whopping 17 nominations, including Best Telenovela, Most Popular TV Soap, Best Actor (Presley Chweneyagae and Hlomla Dandala) and Best Actress (Moshidi Motshegwa and Sindi Dlathu.)

Most nominated comedy – Tali’s Wedding Diary

Tali’s Wedding Diary, featuring Julia Anastasopoulos (also known as Suzelle) in the lead role, received seven nominations for Best Comedy, Best Actress. This comes as no surprise as Tali’s Wedding Diary had the most first-day views of any Showmax series.

Most nominated drama – Lockdown

Taking the lead in the drama category is The Lockdown, with eight nominations for Best TV Drama and Best Actress (Dawn Thandeka King and Zola Nombona.) They will go up against Thuso Mbedu from Mzansi’s IsThunzi.

Most nominated soap – Isibaya

Isibaya is the undisputed champion when it comes to the soapie category, and received a staggering 12 nominations. These include Best Soap, Best Actress (Nomzamo Mbath) and Best Actor (Sdumo Mtshali).

Most nominated channel – kykNET

Last but not least, kykNET dominated the field with 56 nominations, while Mzansi Magic followed with 55 nominations.

Read – The Girl From St Agnes: Hard to watch but impossible to stop