BET Africa presents BET Script to Screen, Afda Edition; A platform for emerging filmmakers

This initiative is a dedicated effort to open doors for emerging filmmakers, providing them with a unique platform to showcase their talent and creativity on a platform that promotes and elevates African storytelling.

“The objective of this film festival is clear - to empower and support young creatives by giving them exposure on a widely watched channel. By featuring films from the Afda film school, we aim to contribute to the growth of the industry by showcasing fresh perspectives and diverse storytelling,” says Monde Twala, senior vice president and GM Paramount Africa and lead BET International.

Afda is the number one film, TV and performance school on the continent, producing award-winning, skilled and networked talent. With 25 years experience in the tertiary education landscape, Afda makes a significant contribution to the growth of the local entertainment industry.

“Afda is proud to kick start this exciting and meaningful journey with BET Africa and Afda students, ensuring emerging young African filmmakers’ voices are heard and given a world-class and international platform. An opportunity of this magnitude to share young, local and culturally relevant content on the same platform as Hollywood blockbusters is invaluable for Afda students. I am certain that this unique partnership will serve to boost and develop the African film industry and the careers of many young South African and African students alike.” says Afda CEO Teresa Passchier.

A glimpse into the showcase:

This one-hour slot, airing from Monday to Friday at 7am on BET (DStv channel 129), is a curated selection of over 50 award-winning AFDA 3rd-year and 4th-year graduation films dating from 2016 to 2021. The showcase includes an array of titles such as "Hlogoma Peak," "Bear," "Umngeno," "Doreen," and many more, representing the diversity and talent within the AFDA film school.

Save the date:

The BET Script to Screen: Afda Edition is set to premiere on 11 December at 7am, offering viewers a daily dose of exceptional student films for an entire week.

BET Africa and Afda are thrilled to support and celebrate the next generation of filmmakers through this showcase, promising audiences an unforgettable cinematic experience.

Some highlighted films:

• Hlogoma Peak

Directed and written by: Luke Ahrens
Synopsis: Cebo, Chris and Thami were inseparable growing up- best friends, a bond stronger than brothers. After Thami’s suicide, the now estranged Cebo and Chris reunite to honour their late friend’s final wishes- travel to Hlogoma Peak, in the heart of the Drakensberg. This is where the trio shared their fondest memories together… and where Thami took his final bow… off a cliff. It’s an unusual request, to visit the place of Thami’s suicide, but beyond the pain there is joy; there is rebirth.

Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/243250203

• Bear

Directed and written by: Wesley Roodt
Synopsis: After leaving his mother and childhood home in a Xhosa township behind, Siya, a precocious but frightened schoolboy rugby prodigy, must find a sense of belonging while attending a prestigious English-language boys' school in the city.

Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/241142086

• Liminal

Directed and written by: Tiffani Joy

Synopsis: Liminal explores the way in which mixed race individuals challenge society’s notion of race as they cannot be easily placed into any pre-existing racial categories. Given how the concept of race continues to be categorised within South Africa, individuals who are of mixed race heritage have been assigned their own racial classification of ‘colored’ which was formalised during the aparthied legislation. Towards the end of the apartheid era, a new generation of mixed race children emerged, an opportune representation of South Africa’s rainbow nation. However, post-racial children have instead exposed the gap within conversations about race within South Africa where most mixed race individuals struggle to comprehend their mixed identities and intersections within a hyper-racialised country which also ironically denies the differences of their racial identity in race-conscious dialogues.

Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/488424714

The showcase includes an array of titles including:

• “A Measure of Distance”
  
• "Aluta Continua"
  
• “Axel”
  
• “Bismillah”
  
• “Crush”
  
• "Doreen"
  
• "Ekhaya"
  
• “Homecoming”
  
• “I Ship It”
  
• “Lefa”
  
• “Mandlakhe”
  
• "Manyano"
  
• “Menu”
  
• “Notorious”
  
• "Quiet On Set"
  
• "Republik"
  
• “Simply Ben”
  
• “Spina Daai Deng”
  
• "Sunset Exodus"
  
• “The House my Grandfather Built”
  
• “The Professional”
  
• “The Spirit of Christmas”
  
• “Thulile”
  
• "Ubuntu Bot"
  
• "Umngeno"
  
• "You, Me & Everything In Between"
  
• "Zomile Inyembezi"