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A few weeks ago, I attended the annual Standard Bank Top Women Virtual Conference which showcased phenomenal women doing amazing work in various fields, from commerce, corporates, NGOs, media and entertainment to small businesses and start-ups.
On the 10th of November 2022, the Standard Bank Top Women Awards 2022 took place at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. The awards had over 700 attendees and a combination of over 30 phenomenal women across Africa and organisations advocating for gender equality and women empowerment. The Standard Bank Top Women Awards 2022 is the fastest growing gender-empowered awards platform, with the theme of “Rise Above the Noise“, the programme was aimed at uplifting and celebrating companies and women that continue to do great work in their respective fields.
As part of its Planet Possible initiative, which aims to inform, inspire and empower consumers to live more lightly on the planet, National Geographic invites photographers across South Africa to participate in 2022 edition of the National Geographic Photo Competition. Themed #ExploreNaturalAreas, this year’s competition, supported by Sunday Times and TimeLIVE, aims to celebrate South Africa’s natural spaces and highlight the need for their protection.
While the 2021 competition was only open to amateurs, a large number of entries were submitted by professional photographers. This year, both groups of enthusiasts may participate as the competition will feature both an amateur and professional category. Entrants stand in line to win a share of R 100 000 in cash, with each category offering prizes of R 25 000 for first place, R 15 000 for second place and R 5 000 for third place. Additionally, the top 10 images in each category will be published on TimesLIVE on 4 September. The winning shots be showcased in the Sunday Times, on TimesLIVE and on the National Geographic Africa social media platforms on 11 September.
I recently attended a launch event where TikTok announced that it has partnered with the 28th South African Music Awards (SAMA28), to introduce the inaugural public-voted “TikTok Viral Song of the Year” category. This award recognises and celebrates local songs and artists that have dominated the entertainment platform in South Africa in the past year.
A number of the most popular songs of the past year made their debut on the entertainment platform before shooting to the top of the music charts globally – earning the platform its well-deserved spot in the music industry.
The TikTok Viral Song of the Year nominations can be voted for exclusively on TikTok from Thursday, 11 August at midday until 24 August, and the winner will be announced at the live SAMA event taking place on 28 August 2022 in Sun City, North West.
Just a day before commemorating the June 16 Soweto Students Uprising, Pat on Brands, a digital media platform that is always on the Pulse with Brands, announced the winners of its inaugural awards initiative – the Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands Awards (YOBA) brought to you bySakhumnotho Group Holdings.
The main aim of YOBA is to recognise South African youth-owned brands’ excellence, innovation and hard work across 16 categories. The honours were revealed and celebrated on the 15th of June 2022 under the theme ‘Real Recognises Real’ at The Capital On the Park hotel in Sandton.
The Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands is a Pat on Brands initiative aimed at shining a light on brands that are established and run by South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35. The brand recognises brands that operate in 16 categories. Why 16? June 16. The initiative is born from the notion that the youth of 1976 fought a political fight and the youth of today is fighting an economic one, they are building brands that are contributing to the economy of South Africa.
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the first South African Muslim film shot in Afrikaans, (actually AfriKaaps) Barakat, has been selected as South Africa’s official submission for the 94th Annual Academy Awards.
Directed by Amy Jephta and produced by Ephraim Gordon, co-founders of production companies PaperJet Films and Nagvlug Films, Barakat was released in cinemas in early 2021. The screenplay is by writing-producing team Amy Jephta and Ephraim Gordon who made their debut at South Africa’s 2017 kykNET Silwerskerm Festival with their short film Soldaat (Soldier), for which they won Best Screenplay and Best Short.
Barakat Official Trailer
Jephta, a celebrated theatre practitioner, director and writer, also scripted South Africa’s official 2018 Golden Globes submission for Foreign Film, Ellen: The Story of Ellen Pakkies. In 2019, she was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award for theatre. Actor and director Gordon starred in Nosipho Dumisa’s critically acclaimed 2018 debut, Number 37, which premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW).
“I am so proud that this film has reached as many people as it has, and to be recognised by South Africa in this way is incredibly special,” said director Amy Jephta. “Even after an extremely challenging year for our film industry, we’re honoured that a small story about a family has connected us.”
Producer Ephraim Gordon added: “This was totally unexpected, but it shows that everyone’s hard work on this project has paid off. This film was a blessing from the beginning and continues to be. It is our barakat.”
‘Barakat’ is an Arabic word denoting blessings, abundance and prosperity. The film follows the trials and tribulations of Aisha Davids (played by veteran acress Vinette Ebrahim), a widow who has to preserve the peace between four sons struggling to come to terms with the death of their father two years after the fact. Her sons, Zunaid (Joey Rasdien), Zaid (Mortimer Williams), Yaseen (Keeno Lee Hector) and Nur (Danny Ross) return to their family home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr (or Labarang, as it’s called in Cape Town), the celebration marking the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. They’ve never dealt with their father’s death or the void his passing has left. Each son’s unprocessed pain manifests in constant familial conflict, saddening their mother as she tries to move on with her own life.
The 94th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, the 27th March 2022.
Barakat was developed in partnership with MNET and funded in association with the NFVF, the DTIC, IDC as well as Indigenous Film Distribution, the South African distributor of the film.
Mzansi Life & Style by Mishkah Roman-Cassiem 