Three student films were showcased at the Power24 International Film Festival, held in Durban from 21–23 August 2026.
The selection included two Afda Durban 2026 Experimental Festival films, Tomasi and Isinamuva, alongside the 2025 Honours graduation film Umtsha Wendoda. The achievement is particularly significant for Isinamuva, which went on to win the Best Student Film award at the festival.
Isinamuva – Best Student Film
The award-winning Isinamuva, directed by Thulisile Sithebe, was selected in the festival's Best Student Film category alongside international student productions.
Its win highlights the growing recognition of Afda Durban's student filmmakers and their ability to create work that resonates beyond the classroom and onto professional festival platforms.
Tomasi – Exploring Identity Through Movement
Written and directed by Portia Ncwane, Tomasi is a 10-minute experimental musical drama centred on a sensitive 17-year-old young man struggling to reconcile his identity with rigid expectations of masculinity.
Following the death of his grandmother, Tomasi leaves his rural home for a township in Durban, where he encounters emotional distance, social judgement and pressure from those around him. Through dance, classical music and dreamlike sequences, the film explores identity, masculinity, grief and self-expression.
The film's selection at Power24 follows an earlier 2026 festival screening at Durban's Insika Festival for Men, further demonstrating the film's ability to engage with important conversations around masculinity and identity.
Umtsha Wendoda – From Graduation Film to Festival Recognition
Joining the two Experimental Festival films was Umtsha Wendoda, a 2025 Afda Durban Honours graduation film written by Hannah Veronica and co-directed by Veronica and Nonala Zondi.
The 24-minute lyrical surrealist film follows two young boys returning to a waterfall they visited during childhood. Their journey becomes a poetic exploration of growing up, accepting fate, memory, masculinity and finding one's place in the world.
Umtsha Wendoda has already enjoyed festival recognition, including selection in competition at the 2026 Mpumalanga International Film Festival, where its distinctive visual storytelling and emotional approach were highlighted.
The Power24 International Film Festival provides an important platform for filmmakers and storytellers, with its 2026 programme bringing together films from South Africa and around the world.
For Afda Durban, the selection of Tomasi, Isinamuva and Umtsha Wendoda, culminating in Isinamuva taking home Best Student Film is a powerful reflection of the school's commitment to developing filmmakers who are willing to experiment, challenge conventions and tell meaningful stories.
From experimental student work to Honours films finding audiences on the festival circuit, Afda Durban's filmmakers continue to demonstrate that bold ideas, distinctive voices and creative risk-taking can make an impact well beyond the classroom.
Congratulations to the filmmakers and creative teams behind Isinamuva, Tomasi and Umtsha Wendoda on this outstanding achievement.
