Khaya Dube's “Umxoxiso” won the Young Voices Competition at the 8th Joburg Film Festival Awards.
Image: Supplied/Joburg Film Festival
The 2026 Joburg Film Festival held a glittering awards gala, attended by the industry’s finest, which honoured the top films of the year, at Theater on the Square.
South African Film and Television Award-winning actress Jo-Anne Reyneke was the night's MC, guiding the audience along the evening’s festivities.
Swiss historical drama film “Silent Rebellion” (À bras-le-corps) won the night's coveted Nguni Horns for Best Feature Film and Best Cinematography.
Directed by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, the engrossing World War 2-era drama stars Lila Gueneau, Sasha Gravat Harsch, and Cyril Metzgerbout. The film is shaped by the restricted social mobility and female subjugation of Swiss society in 1943.
“Silent Rebellion” was awarded in absentia, with there being no one to accept and deliver an acceptance speech. Winners were chosen by a jury made up of Keith Shiri, Dorothee Wenner, Sia Stewart, Bongiwe Selane, and Cait Pansegrouw.
The jury this year was so moved by how well “Silent Rebellion” spoke to the festival’s ‘Feel The Frame’ that they gave the film a special mention for Best Actress performance.
Award presenters included several South African stars, such as “The Wife” actress Zikhona Sodlaka, “Skeem Saam” actor Hungani Ndlovu, and former “ Scandal!” actor Brighton Ngoma.
Ngoma couldn't help but express himself and let his feelings be known about Canal+ when announcing Best Cinematography and called the French company that has bought a major stake in Multichoice, “Canal P***”.
Shirley Adonisi, Director of Local Entertainment Channels at Multichoice, gave a speech that not only highlighted the positives of the industry but also noted that times are trying for everyone across the board.
Khaya Dube's “Umxoxiso” won the Young Voices Competition. Dube, in his acceptance speech thanked all the individuals, the supporters who have poured into him, and people who believe in their stories.
“The people who inform the specific experiences that we tell in our stories and that was one of the biggest things that this film aimed to do, to look into our indigenous forms of storytelling.
“To inform the future that we want to see for where this industry goes. Despite the stages or the current forms of our industry, or challenges that our industry faces, we aim to tell stories that reflect our challenges, what we face and what we believe in.”
Sodlaka, who was one of the judges for the youth competition, speaking to IOL, reflected on the process, the numerous applications reviewed, to choose the top three finalists.
“I think there were a lot of films that we saw, which means that there's an ability to make films by our filmmakers. There's a hunger to make the films. Some of them were making them with phones, and it wasn't professional.
“When you get to see the fact that truly the future of film is in the hands of keen people who want to make films, whether they know how to do it professionally or not.”
TUT Film School alumnus, George Temba’s “The Silent Inheritance” won the Best Student Film. In his acceptance speech, Temba reflected on how two years prior, he won the young voice competition and his mom didn’t quite understand, prompting him to bring his mother as his date to the awards.
Temba went on to encourage individuals in the industry to collaborate and advised those who have been in the industry to make an impact by empowering the next generation.
“The impact that you're going to make is going to be measured by the impact that you make in someone's life, not the number of films that you put out there, but the longevity of the skills that you transfer to the young ones.”
Renowned film producer Harriet Gavshon, Creative Director and Shareholder of Quizzical Pictures, was given her flowers by the Joburg Film Festival, receiving a special recognition award.
IOL