Nam Theatre and Film Awards announce nominees

It’s nomination palooza for ‘Katutura’, playwright Jenny Kandenge is competing against herself in the category for Best Script and ‘Generations’ star Vusi Kunene will be the awards show’s guest speaker.

All this and more was announced at last Thursday’s Namibian Theatre and Film Awards’ (NTFA) nomination event where a handful of hopefuls gathered to wince through snubs or smile at selection.

Hosted by the National Theatre of Namibia and the Namibian Film Commission, the biannual NTFAs recognise the best in the local film and theatre fraternity as selected by an independent jury.

Under the theme of ‘Creating Tomorrow Today’, the NTFAs will take place at the NTN Auditorium on 25 March where the winners of each category will receive a trophy and prize money in the range of N$8 000 to N$20 000 – up from just N$4 000 in 2014.

Bigger and better in every way, this year the NTFAs will honour theatre practitioners in 10 categories and received a record number of film entries with 50 submitted and 42 in competition for 13 awards.

Leading the pack with regard to film nominations are ‘Katutura’ (7) ‘The Unseen’ (6), ‘The Harvest: Prometheum’ (4) and ‘Broken Pencils’ (4) with cinematographer Kit Hoffman competing against himself and ‘The Unseen’s’ Antonius Tsuob in the category of Best Cinematography for ‘The Harvest: Prometheum’ and ‘The Mbunza of the Kavango’.

Also racking up multiple awards are plays by Kandenge and Freddie Philander with Kandenge’s ‘Ominous’ in the running for Best Script, Best Set, Props and Wardrobe, Best Newcomer Director and Best Newcomer Actor for Lavinia Kapewasha.

Moving from the little to the big leagues is theatre director Zindri Swartz who won Best Newcomer Director in 2014 and is nominated for Best Director alongside Tanya Terblanche (‘District Six’) and David Ndjavera (‘Nothing But the Truth’).

Vying for the very top spots in film and theatre are Florian Schott’s ‘Katutura’, Perivi Katjavivi’s ‘The Unseen’ and Pveclidias Witbooi’s ‘Broken Pencils’ which are nominated for Best Narrative Film while the three Best Play nominees are Nelago Shilongoh’s ‘Dutchman’, Ndjavera’s ‘Nothing But the Truth’ and Philander’s ‘Agnes of God’.

By no means all the nominees announced and in the running for local theatre and film’s highest honours, a full list of nominees can be found on the Namibian Theatre and Film Awards Twitter and Facebook pages and in The Namibian this Friday.

As for those keen on playing jury themselves, the NTFA’s ‘7 Days of Namibian Movies’ still has five days left and needs your votes to select the Audience Choice Award.

Join film screenings at various venues in Windhoek to make your voice heard while enjoying Namibia’s acclaimed features, shorts and music videos including work by Best Music Video Director nominees Lila Swanepoel (‘Relapse’ by Tonetic), Liberty Verbaan (‘Black Man’ by Elemotho) and Andrew Robson (‘Oud Word Saam Met Jou’ by John Rock Prophet).

This year’s Namibian Theatre and Film Awards will be hosted by Edward Ward and Laurika Williams and the ceremony, which is by invitation-only, will be broadcast on NBC 1 on Sunday, 26 March.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram