Two third year Video Technology students from DUT have been nominated in the Best Student Film category in the third annual Simon Sabela Awards which are taking place at the Durban International Film Festival which runs from 16 to 26 July 2015.

Redemption by Ntuthuko Ntuli and Mimesis by Travis Cross were both nominated in the Awards’ Best Student Film category.

“Redemption is about a man who assaulted another man and wanted to change his ways and went to church to ask for forgiveness,” said Ntuli while speaking about his film. “The gist of the story is that no matter what you have done, you can still redeem yourself and be a better human being. I am very happy about the movie and hopefully, this nomination has inspired my fellow Video Technology students. I have already celebrated. Even if I do not win, the nomination alone is a huge accomplishment for me,” said Ntuli.

Cross, who was also nominated for the award said, “In this film, the main character mimics other people’s actions and introduced those actions to his life. I am very excited about being nominated. I worked with students from DUT’s Drama Studies Department and they helped me a lot. I think that these awards will help showcase that we have very talented students in DUT,” said Cross.

The Simon Sabela Awards are held in honour of Simon Mabhunu Sabela, a legendary film and television actor and South Africa’s first black director. The awards also celebrate outstanding accomplishment within the local film industry, with a special emphasis on the KwaZulu-Natal province.

– Sihle Ndebele