1. The 6th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAS) were staged at Gallagher
Estate, they were organised by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and the
awards were produced for SABC by Clive Morris Productions in association with
Lehlohonolo Lehana-Mokhethi of Grooves Productions.
The SAFTAS are an industry event under the custodian ship of NFVF. The main objective of
the awards is to honour, celebrate and promote creativity and excellence of South African
Film and Television talent, also encourage entrepreneurship and the development of a new
talent in the industry.
It involves conceptualising, creating and overseeing the awards from scripting and staging,
sourcing of hosts, presenters and entertainment, and also creating all the audio visual
packages for the show.
The NFVF wanted to create an enabling environment to encourage people from previously
disadvantaged communities to participate as key creatives in the production of the SAFTAS
event. As result the NFVF did establish the joint venture by pairing a big experienced
company with a smaller previously disadvantaged company with limited experience in the
live event field. The companies Clive Morris Productions and my company Grooves
Productions, they were selected through a fair and open public tender process and I was
appointed as part of developing and empowering up and coming producers.
I will always be thankful to the NFVF for showing confidence in me. It was a step towards
achieving their objective to encourage the growth of new talent within the industry.
Consequently the 6th annual SAFTAS were bigger and better than ever. South African
society reinvents itself every year and it is through our stories, our television shows and our
films that we reflect the heritage of our country.
Lehlohonolo Lehana, Grooves Productions.