AFDA is proud to announce the selection of two 2023 honours graduation films to compete for the prestigious CILECT Prize 2024; the first-ever award bestowed to a student film based on the review from the whole community of CILECT Full Member Schools. By 2024 CILECT includes 180+ film, TV and media schools from 60+ countries on 6 continents with 9,000+ teachers and staff that annually train 55,000+ students and communicate with an alumni network over 1,330,000+ strong.
The AFDA films competing for the CILECT Prize 2024 are the AFDA Cape Town honours drama comedy, Miscellaneous, directed by JC Du Bruyn & Lungile Ndlovu and produced by Ruben van Heerden & Wharton Mashaba Matibidi and the AFDA Durban documentary film, Amadelakufa Esizwe, directed by Nhlakanipho Mngomezulu and produced by Onwaba Msebi & Owami Kayeni.
“On behalf of the Miscellaneous crew, we are sincerely honoured and immensely grateful for the extraordinary opportunity to represent our esteemed film school AFDA as part of CILECT Prize 2024. It is a dream come true and a privilege.” says Miscellaneous producer Wharton Mashaba Matibidi.
Renowned film critic, Spling, gave Miscellaneous a rave review: “The film industry is known for its propensity to encapsulate both dreams and nightmares. This world of illusion is what makes Miscellaneous so spellbinding in the way it pieces together the misadventures of a budding yet disillusioned screenwriter who forges his career path unsupported. A visually-captivating journey with a labyrinthine narrative in the style of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we begin with our hero sleepwalking. This story could all be taking place in this waking state where real and unreal mingle to form their own new reality.
A student film with decent resources, Miscellaneous could be what you’d call an ideal. Silky cinematography, seamless visual effects, sharp performances, a dreamy script, resourceful producing, stylish design and a tight edit, this film fires on all cylinders. A cut above with the clout to back up its imaginative script, the Charlie Kaufman influences are apparent, even bringing in a few visual touches from Inception and story elements from Stranger Than Fiction. While not a true original, Miscellaneous powers home to a breathless finish with its 24 minute running time. An epic student film, it’s also regarded as one of the best to come out of AFDA.”
“On behalf of the Post Graduate department of AFDA Durban, it is with sincere pride, that I congratulate the crew of Amadelakufa Esizwe, which is being submitted for the 2024 CILECT Best Documentary Prize! This documentary is the inadvertent brainchild of one of our star students, writer/director Nhlakanipho Mngomezulu, having started off as an entry to The South African online newspaper. It won second prize for the best student mini documentary, and at the time, was part of the director’s research towards a fictional adaptation. Having stumbled upon two captivating interviewees and meaningful viewer responses from the online contest, the director and producer decided to pursue the challenge of extending the project into 24 minute documentary for their Graduation Festival. This was an unexpected shift from what was initially planned, occurring nearly half way through the year – but through relentless production work, passionate commitment to the subject and intensive research – the crew were able to pull it off!
Amadelakufa Esizwe delves into the dark underbelly of Apartheid in South Africa, through exploration of black on black violence during this turbulent era. Through the eyes of two non-statutory military veterans, who played a pivotal role in the struggle for liberation and freedom, this documentary offers profound insights into the impact of systemic oppression and division within South African communities. Since its cinematic release at the AFDA 2023 Graduation Festival, Amadelakufa Esizwe has received critical praise from industry professionals and won the award for Best Honours Motion Picture Medium: Documentary, at the 2023 AFDA Durban Awards. These accolades are well-deserved, for students who rose to the challenge of tackling deeply political issues which may have been beyond their time, but which percolate through their lived experiences today. Congratulations crew! May this be the start of an illustrious career, filled with meaningful work that leaves a trail of impact on the world around you.” says Arushani Govender Postgraduate Program Co-ordinator at AFDA Durban.
The International Association of Film and Television Schools (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision – CILECT) was founded in Cannes, France, in 1954 at the proposal of Marcel L’Herbier (IDHEC President) and Rémy Tessonneau (IDHEC General Director) who gathered together for the first time higher education film school representatives from France, Italy, Poland, Spain, UK, USA and USSR.
CILECT believes in the inherent inter-connectivity of humankind and fully supports creativity, diversity, cross-cultural thinking and sustainable development as fundamental prerequisites to human existence and progress.
CILECT is committed to developing and promoting the highest standards of education, research and training for film, television and related media through establishing and organizing global and regional forums for the exchange of artistic, pedagogical, methodological and managerial best practices for all its members.
