Saftas drama as long-running soaps snubbed in favour of 'The Road'

Colourful entertainment personality Somizi Mhlongo kick-started a night of lights, camera and drama on the red carpet at Sun City last night as soapie stars gathered to find out who was the most popular in the land at the South African Film and Television Awards.

There was drama and upset galore at the awards - hosted by 5FM's Thando Thabethe and Expresso's Katlego Maboe - as the country's favourite soapies, Isidingo, Uzalo and Generations, were snubbed by the judges at the 11th Saftas in favour of a telenovela that was canned four months after it started .

Mzansi Magic telenovela The Road scooped four prized Golden Horns, for best telenovela, best post-production editing, best production design and best wardrobe, makeup and hair.

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The telenovela, which weaves the memoirs of an old man into a story set in modern-day Jozi, aired only 128 episodes of its scheduled 208-episode run before being canned in March last year.

Kutlwano Ditsele, a producer at Bomb Shelter productions - which owns Yizo Yizo, Isibaya and The Road - said the company was happy with the awards.

"The channel believed in the show, the people who worked on it gave it their all and held back nothing, but this didn't mean that the audience would understand and love the show, which is why it was short-lived.

"There is no discussion on the show returning, but we have to find the right audience for such shows."

In the same subcategory, Isibaya earned one gong, for best post-production original music score, and High Rollers scored three awards, with actor Antony Coleman getting the best actor nod.

Tina Jaxa was awarded best actress for her role in e.tv soap Gold Diggers, Linda Sebezo from Greed & Desire earned best supporting actress and Mandla Gaduka received best supporting actor for his role in Ashes to Ashes.

In the feature film subcategory, movie Noem My Skollie, which was selected for the best foreign language film category at the 89th Oscars, scored five awards, with its lead actor, Dann Jacques Mouton, scooping best actor and Abdurahgmaan Adams best supporting actor.

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They went head-to-head with Afrikaans drama Sink, which clinched the best feature film award, while its actress Shoki Mokgapa received the best actress award.

Other films that won included Modder en Bloed, which walked away with two awards, while Anant Singh's production Shepherds and Butchers scored one award for its director, Oliver Schmitz.

Popular film Happiness is a Four-Letter Word, which made more than R13-million in at the box office in June last year, won nothing.

In the drama subcategory, it was kykNET's Bloedbroers and e.tv's Heist that led with five awards each.

Jerry Mofokeng - one of the head judges for the awards - won best actor for Heist while Warren Masemola was crowned the best supporting actor in the same show. This is the second time he has won the best supporting actor award - last time it was for the sitcom Ses' Top La.

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Other winners included Anele Mdoda, who scored the best talkshow host award, while singer Karen Zoid's show Republiek van Zoid Afrika scored best talk show, and The Voice South Africa scored best international format show.

The ceremony was presented in a cinema-style seating format and featured Amanda Black as one of its performers.

Actor and playwright John Kani - who is one of the overall head judges of the awards alongside actor Mofokeng and film producer Firdoze Bulbulia - said that when picking the nominees for this year's awards, the judges acted with "honesty in pursuit of excellence".

He added: "It's very difficult for us to pick who will be the deserving winner so we had to leave it to the auditors. The process was honest, creative and these judges had a passion for the industry of South Africa."

mbeleg@sundaytimes.co.za