SAFTAs 05 Judging Chairpersons Announced

SAFTAs 2015 Judging Chairpersons Announced

The National Film and Video Foundation and the South African Film and Television Awards committee are proud to present the two judging Chairperson for the 9th Annual SAFTAs, Jerry Mofokeng and Roberta Durrant. The role of the two Chairpersons will be to oversee the judging process and clarify any queries that judges may have.

Jerry Mofokeng is the newly-appointed artistic director of the Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (PACOFS) brings a near-peerless wealth of performing experience to his position.

Well-known for his roles in films like Cry, The Beloved Country and the Academy Award-winning Tsotsi, Mofokeng's high standing in the artistic community was recently confirmed when he was announced as the overall judging chairperson of the 2013 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs). In 2012, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the same event, in recognition of a career that has its roots in the Soweto community theatre during the turbulent years of the 1970s.

Mofokeng studied drama at Wits Drama School as well as Columbia University in America, where he obtained his Masters Degree in Theatre Directing while on a Fulbright scholarship. His expertise has seen him occupy various roles within the performing community in South Africa including Associate Artistic Director at The Johannesburg Civic Theatre, Chief Director of Mpumalanga Department of Sports and Culture, and Artistic Director of The State Theatre in Pretoria.

With skills that include acting, writing, directing and teaching, Mofokeng has worked in TV (Soul City; Yizo Yizo Season 2; Scandal!; 90 Plein Street), movies and his first-love, theatre (The Island; Sizwe Banzi Is Dead; As You Like It) and brings all of this to his new role at PACOFS.

The latest is that he will be leaving for New York on 23 October 2014 as director of A Distant Drum; the story of Nat Nakasa, which will perform at Carnegie Hall as part of the South African, Ubuntu Festival.

Roberta Durant is a creative director/producer of television and film. She has created and directed/produced several long running, award winning drama series and sitcoms for South African broadcasting. She also has a reputation in the industry for training and mentoring many aspiring writers, directors, editors and producers.

Roberta Durrant graduated from Stellenbosch University, South Africa with a BA degree in Drama. For the first ten years of her career she acted and directed in theatre and film, firstly in South Africa and from 1977 in London where she worked with Stephen Berkoff, at the Young Vic Theatre and at The Edinburgh Festival achieving a Fringe First for Don Juan and Pieter Dirk Uys Paradise is Closing Down which she directed.

She has produced several award winning comedies such as Sgudi Snaysi (Its Good Its Nice); Going Up, About Us; Madam & Eve, SOS; Fishy Feshuns; Going Up Again; Mazinyo dot Q and Stokvel. These productions have had several seasons (many still airing) and many have won local and international awards for best comedy. She has produced several award winning drama series such as Home Affairs and Sokhulu and Partners that have received multiple International Emmy nominations as well as special mentions at the Golden Rose Festival and Banff. Her most recent dramas include Traffic!; Montana; Shreds and Dreams and the much acclaimed Saints and Sinners, currently on air.

Durrant has produced three feature films and directed one, Felix, which has won 16 International awards to date, Including TIFF Kids and the award for Best Director at the Pan African Film Festival in 2014.

In 2012 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Film and Video Foundation for her contribution to the film and television industry. She is also the South African Ambassador to the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The 9th Annual SAFTAs Awards will take place on the 19th and 21st of March 2015.

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