The 8th annual Jozi Film Festival (JFF) Awards took place on the evening of 6 October at Il Giardino, 44 Stanley Ave, in Johannesburg.

Sean Steinberg made Jozi Film Festival history by walking away with three awards, for Best South African Short Fiction Film for Axis Mundi (co-directed with Matthew Jankes) and Best South African Feature Film, (S)he. He also took home Best Director.

Tapiwa Gambura took home a cheque for $2 500 as the winner of JFF and Discovery Network’s “Real Stories By Real People” award. Her short documentary about a Zimbabwean woman who is a bus conductor garnered the most public votes. Handing over the award was SA’s RealTime ambassador and Metro FM talk show host, Relebogile Mabotja. In second and third place were Beyond Gender by Samuel Erhahon (Nigeria) and Fish On Fire by Peter Okojie (Nigeria). Twenty films were shortlisted in this category and all will all be broadcast on RealTime channel this month. They can also be viewed on the JFF website.

All the winners for 2019 are:

Best SA Feature Film 2019

(S)he – Sean Steinberg

Best Young Director 2019

Mligane Dube (Isidima)

Best Director 2019

Sean Steinberg (Axis Mundi and (S)he)

Best South African Documentary 2019

Someone To Blame – Enver Michael Samuel

Best International Documentary 2019

Nigeria’s Lost Generation – Charlie Luckock (Nigeria)

Best South African Short Documentary 2019

Exorcist of Apartheid – Adam Heyns

Best International Short Documentary

The Briefing – Filip Drzweicki (Poland)

Best South African Short Fiction Film 2019

Axis Mundi – Matthew Jankes and Sean Steinberg

Best International Short Fiction 2019

J Burg – Matthew Gouveia (Canada)

Best Music Video 2019

Mangaliso (Bongiziwe Mabandla) – Warwick Allan

Best South African Student Film 2019

Sunset Exodus – Dylan Brokensha

Honourable mentions:

Tin Soldiers – Odette Schwegler (Best SA Feature Length Documentary)

Shaka’s Mask – Maishe Mosala (SA Short Fiction)

Miracle – Bongi Ndama (SA Short Fiction)

Life’s A Drag – Kate D’Hotman – (SA Short Fiction)

The evening was hosted by John Vlismas and the crowd were entertained by the Mzansi Youth Choir, whose performance was sponsored by RMB.

Jozi Film Festival thanks Chubb, Easy Equities and BASA for their support of the festival.