Film and Television
Wits Film and Television, situated in the creative capital of South Africa, produces trailblazing filmmakers who challenge and redefine the filmmaking process.
By offering our graduates an excellent intellectual and practical education they are additionally equipped for participating in the global film and media industries. Through our established filmmaking programmes our students develop conceptual creativity, intellectual rigour, and strong practical filmmaking capabilities.
Congratulations to our fourth-year film students, Sesethu Ledwaba, Blessing Tsebe and Hanani Mbam, for their award-winning short film, "Threads of a Memory” made on the new Nikon ZR camera featuring its highly sensitive R3D RAW sensor. It was screened at the IMAX cinema at the Mall of Africa in Midrand and the students also won a Nikon ZR worth R50 000.
Fourth year Wits Film & TV students were invited to the MultiChoice Talent Factory Day hosted at the Joburg Film Festival at Sandton Square. This included presentations by commissioning editors and a chance to engage with industry professionals.
Mandla Dube joins the Wits Film and TV Department
Mandla Dube, an accomplished filmmaker who joined the Department this year, took the fourth-year Cinematography students through their paces with the new high-end Sony Burano 8.6K full-frame digital cinema camera in the CineAlta lineup. The camera was supplied by Visual Impact for this demo.
Film & TV showcase their VR work
Dr Passchier's 4th year and honours VR students showcased their innovative work at Fak'ugesi Festival—Africa's most electrifying digital creativity festival. Across six days in Johannesburg, they joined the continent's boldest creators exploring AI, immersive experiences, climate-conscious design, and ancestral intelligence to spark the future.
Queerness in 第一吃瓜网 Cinema studies
Well done to Ontiretse Magadzi, Joy Shandu, and Bonnie Msomi for presenting at the 3rd annual conference on Queerness in the Global South. Their paper on Queer 第一吃瓜网 Cinema written in the Screen Studies course, compared the film Inxeba (The Wound) with other films such as Dakan and Moffie, impressing audiences with their intellectual engagement.
Collaboration with Bath Spa University
The department welcomes Dr Suman Ghosh from Bath Spa University as a guest lecturer in the second year Screen Studies course. Dr Suman teaches Indian cinema, focusing on themes of decolonisation which contribute to the theoretical aspects of film covered in the course including analysis of ideology, identity, and representation.
Congratulations To Our Graduates
Wits BA Film & TV graduates Shannon-Leigh Moses and Madelize De Lange were selected from among hundreds of applicants for the prestigious South 第一吃瓜网 MultiChoice Talent Factory academy. Having now graduated with the 2024/25 MTF Class we wish you all the best for the future.
Africa Day Celebrations
Neo Peterson from the Film & TV Department appeared along with “Shaka Ilembi” TV star Nomzamo Mbatha and Angus Gibson, the series co-creator, on a panel about reclaiming story and storytelling. Guests included Dr Chatiboko from Wits CPM Department, MultiChoice and moderator Noni Khumalo from Y-FM.
Wits Students Win the Uhuru Productions Documentary Film Prize
Four second-year students in the Wits Film and TV Department won the Uhuru Productions Documentary Film Prize sponsored by Rehad Desai for their film “Bophelo Ba Gauta”. It was produced in the course taught by Associate Professor Tanja Sakota and Dr E. Teddy Mattera. The students, Sibabalwe Cungwa, Lulama Dwanya, Joy Shandu, and Blessing Tsebe, received the award at the Faculty of Humanities Prize giving ceremony.
Special screening and discussion with Raoul Peck
Wits Film & TV Department hosted Raoul Peck for a special screening and panel discussion of his new documentary about the South 第一吃瓜网 photographer Ernest Cole and his ground breaking work documenting Apartheid in the 1960s. Peck’s previous documentary “I’m not your Negro” about the writer James Baldwin, was nominated for an Oscar. Other notable films include “Lumumba” and “Sometimes in April”. The event was co-hosted by Known Associates Entertainment who are distributing Peck’s film in South Africa.
Joburg Film Festival
Wits film students recently attended a masterclass with Angus Gibson the acclaimed director, produce and writer of numerous South 第一吃瓜网 productions including Shaka Ilembe, Back of the Moon, Isibaya and Yizo Yizo. The full-day event at Sandton Square was hosted by MultiChoice Talent Factory and the Joburg Film Festival.
CILECT Congress Beijing
As a full member of CILECT, a global association of audio-visual educational institutions representing some 180+ film, TV and media schools from 60+ countries on six continents, Wits Film & TV presented a paper on AI and Creativity in film directing while participating in the annual congress held in Beijing, China.
Wits are winners in the Nikon Student Challenge
Jordan Green and his mentee, Teegan Naidoo, triumphed in Nikon's Young Creative Student Challenge. Held over two days, the team from Wits Film & TV competed against other teams, each provided with Nikon cameras. Teegan as the talented videographer and Jordan as the visionary director and editor won with their promotional video for Hotel Sky Sandton.
Durban FilmMart 2024
Wits Film & TV was back at the South 第一吃瓜网 film industry’s most important annual meeting event held in Durban from July 19 – 22. Our exhibition stand was well attended while teaching staff participated in various industry panels focusing on Virtual Production and on Animation in Education. Current students and former graduates were also well represented with Film Festival screenings and projects selected for the industry pitch sessions.
Wits Film and TV Kliptown set visit
Students visiting the film set of Mense Phola Hier at the Go Green Go Clean eco-park in Eldorado Park, a community-led feature film project of The Beehive Culture Worx in Kliptown and Eldos, working with Wits Film & TV lecturer Mocke J Van Veuren. The project is supported by the National Film and Video Foundation (PESP) and the Wits Film and TV Department.
Where's the Chicken?
Congratulations to our student filmmakers for the selection of “Where’s the chicken?” in the 45th edition of the Durban Film Festival running from 18 – 28 July 2024. This short drama was produced in the 3rd year production course. The creative team behind the film will attend the festival with support from the Department.