Must-see: SA productions that have garnered international acclaim

Make sure to add these top South African productions to your holiday viewing schedule.

Zog – Animated Short

It may only run for 27 minutes, but the animated short film Zog will stay in the minds of kids (and adults) long after the closing credits have rolled. The short is about Zog – a keen but clumsy pupil at Dragon School.

Based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler which has sold more than 1.5 million copies and won a slew of awards, such as the Galaxy National Children’s Book of the Year Award in the UK, the short film also features a starry line-up. 

The voices behind the characters, are: Hugh Skinner (Harlots) as the clumsy little dragon; Patsy Ferran (Jamestown) as the kind-hearted young girl Pearl; Kit Harington (Jon Snow in Game of Thrones) is the bumbling knight Sir Gadabout; and Sir Lenny Henry (Broadchurch) is the narrator.

Even though he sometimes feels discouraged by his clumsiness, Zog hopes to win a gold star as he learns how to fly, roar and breathe fire. But he also faces a tricky school assignment – to capture a princess. 

Cape Town animation studio leads the way

Zog was animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish for Magic Light Pictures, and co-directed by multi-award-winning South African Daniel Snaddon. It’s available on Showmax.

Some the international acclaim the short film has garnered so far:

• Nominated for Best Special Production and Best Storyboarding for the 2020 Annie Awards;
• Nominated for Best Kids Animation at the 2020 International Emmy Kids Awards;
• Won Best Animation, Shanghai International TV Festival, 2019; and
• Won Audience Award: 3-6, New York International Children’s Film Festival, 2019.

The River 

Airing on DStv’s 1Magic channel, this telenovela is about two different but interdependent worlds, and what happens when the side of the river that is home to exquisite mansions collides with the side where people have little to show for their hard work. 

Created by Phathu Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon, the South African television series boasts a cast of notable local talent, such as Sindi Dlathu, Hlomla Dandala, Presley Chweneyagae and Moshidi Motshegwa. 

Having run for two seasons, the show seems to be picking up more audiences and recognition with every new episode.

2019 a great year for telenovela:

• Nominated as Best Telenovela at the 2019 International Emmy Awards; and
• The most-awarded production at the 2019 Saftas, taking home 11 golden horns, including for Best Telenovela.

Everything Must Fall

Previous winner of the International Emmy Award for Best Documentary for Miners Shot Down, director Rehad Desai takes a stark look at the #FeesMustFall student movement of 2015 in Everything Must Fall.

Initially, a protest over the cost of education, the movement became one of the most militant national revolts since South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.

Get it on Showmax

Everything Must Fall is available on Showmax. 

The story is told by four Wits University student leaders. Wits vice-chancellor and former anti-apartheid student activist Adam Habib plays a prominent role in the documentary. 

When Habib’s efforts to contain the protest fail, he brings 1 000-strong police force onto campus. This wreaks havoc, with students injured, shot with rubber bullets and even arrested.

Though distinctly South African in context, the documentary has had global resonance with two significant victories in 2019:

• Winner of The Vaclav Havel Award, One World Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, 2019; and
• Winner Best Documentary and Best Documentary Director at the Saftas,