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South African Film God’s Work awarded prestigious prize at Luxor African Film Festival

The South African feature film God’s Work, directed by Michael James and produced by Sithabile Mkhize was awarded the prestigious Radwan El Kashef Prize for Best Film Addressing an African Issue (Silver Mask of Tutankhamun) at The Luxor African Film Festival in Egypt last week.

“The Radwan El Kashef Prize for the Best Film addressing an African issue is not granted annually, but only when the High Committee decides that a particular film deserves this special honour, marking it as a distinction reserved for truly exceptional works that embody both artistic excellence and deep engagement with African realities,” says Festival Director Ms Azza El Husseiny.

The prize is named after Egypt’s pioneering independent filmmaker Radwan El Kashef (1952–2002), and symbolizes cinema that elevates marginalized voices with empathy and poetic depth. The film was honoured for “its powerful artistic vision and its sincere exploration of African identity and collective struggle.”

The award was presented to the director, Michael James by Dr Hossam El-Mandouh El-Husseini, Egyptian Member of Parliament, in recognition of the enduring cultural ties between Egypt and Africa and the festival’s role as a platform for creative dialogue across the continent.

Reflecting on the honour, director Michael James said: “Receiving this award on behalf of the film, and all involved is deeply humbling. This award affirms the importance of telling African stories with honesty and empathy, and I hope God’s Work continues to contribute to the ongoing dialogue around affirming the humanity of the homeless community."

Sithabile Mkhize commented, “This award is especially important because it acknowledges one of the central intentions of the film, which is to use the power of cinema to build bridges across humanity."

“This recognition is a powerful validation of the collaborative effort behind God’s Work,” says Executive Producer Toni Monty. “It highlights the strength of African filmmaking and the importance of creating platforms where our stories can resonate globally. We are proud to see the film stand alongside works that embody both artistic excellence and social relevance.”

The film is supported by the Durban Film Office, KZN Tourism and Film, The National Film and Video Foundation, and co-produced with Amafrika Films and Mojo Entertainment. 

Necktie Youth Wins Best SA Film & Best Director at DIFF

NECKTIE YOUTH WINS BEST SOUTH AFRICAN FILM AND BEST DIRECTOR AWARDS IN DURBAN

Urucu Media's hugely anticipated drama Necktie Youth walked away with top honours at the Durban International Film Festival on Saturday night, winning both the best South African feature award and the international jury award for best director for director Sibs Shongwe-La Mer.

Said the jury in their report on Necktie Youth: “a film desperate to reconcile the seemingly disparate realities of its country, and whose urgent questions about South African life are posed with such mischievous energy that they cannot help provoke debate, itself one of the most important responsibilities of cinema.”

The international jury commented that newcomer Shongwe-La Mer (who has recently been signed by top international agents LBI and Casroto) was awarded the best director accolade “for displaying a unique, contemporary voice weaving together poetic images and a striking view of South African youth with a boldness seldom seen in South African cinema.”

Necktie Youth, which follows the hedonistic antics of Johannesburg's affluent new-born generation, had a successful career before it's South African debut, selling out all festival screenings at its world premier at Berlinale International Film Festival as well as Tribeca and Sydney International Film Festivals. Cineuropa named it best in show at Berlinale and the film went on to gather rave reviews in Variety, IndieWire, Elle, The New York Times, Le Monde and Dazed & Confused who called it the "South African Kids", a comparison to Larry Clark's 1995 cult classic.

SterKinekor has confirmed the South African release of Necktie Youth on the 18th of September and Urucu is in advanced negotiations with M-Net for the TV broadcast.

The week has been a busy one for producers Elias Ribeiro and John Trengove from Urucu Media who also announced REALNESS, a pan-African screenwriter's residency that will launch in 2016. “We are very excited to have the backing of the French Institute and Durban FilmMart for this initiative. The aim of REALNESS is to nurture a new crop of talented African film writers by offering them a 3 month incubation to develop their feature scripts". These projects will be presented to a jury and independent producers at Durban FilmMart 2016.

As part of their commitment to bringing more quality art-house films from across the world to South African screens, Urucu has started a partnership with Cannes' La Semaine de la Critique competition (Critics Week). This year, five diverse films from the competition had screenings in Durban, with one of the directors, Boris Lojkine (Hope) travelling to Durban to conduct a masterclass with local filmmakers. The five films will go on to have limited runs this weekend (31st August - 2nd September) in Johannesburg's Rosebank Cinema Nouveau and in Cape Town's W&A Waterfront Cinema Nouveau. La Semaine de La Critique are responsible for launching the careers of such giants in the art film world as Ken Loach, Won Kar Wai and Alejandro Gonzales Iñaritu (Birdman).

Urucu's next feature film slated for production is The Wound the highly anticipated first feature by John Trengove. The film, which deals with a gay teenager who undergoes the Xhosa circumcision initiation ritual, has collected several development and production awards from French broadcaster Arte, Torino Film Lab, the Hamburg Regional Fund and Hubert Bals in Holland. The film, which is slated to start shooting later this year and has been denied support from the NFVF despite the fact World Sales Agent Pyramide believes so much in the festival and market potential of the film that they are also investing in the film with a Distribution Minimum Guarantee. Urucu is currently seeking local private equity investment to close it's financing.

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