Local filmmaker awarded major bursary to
study film at AFDA
AFDA, the South African School of Motion
Picture Medium and Live Performance, has awarded local filmmaker Thabo Vincent
Mhlamvu a bursary for undergraduate study for three years at the new campus in
Glen Anil, Durban.
The 100% bursary award, which was given to
Mhlamvu at the eThekwini Film Awards on November 24 was initiated by local
filmmaker Bonie Sithebe, who facilitated the callouts for applications to this
specific bursary award.
The Film Awards was hosted by the eThekwini
Filmmakers Association (eFA), a non-profit organization, which aims at improving
and developing the local film industry and audiences for local films, and
creating an economically viable film industry in the city. eThekwini Deputy
Mayor, Cllr Nomvuzo Shabalala, the guest speaker at the awards, encouraged
young and emerging filmmakers to hone and develop their craft through
institutions such as AFDA.
An elated and emotional Mhlamvu, who
originally hails from rural Harding and now lives in Springfield in Durban,
expressed huge gratitude for the bursary, which enables him to be one of the
founding 70-strong intake of aspiring film-makers and performers to enrol at
the new AFDA Campus in Durban in January. “From Harding to the streets of
Durban on the way to the streets of New York, I am delighted to now have the
opportunity to study film here in Durban,” he says.
Milena Gevers, Marketing Officer for AFDA,
says: “We are pleased to award this three year undergraduate bursary to Thabo,
who we trust will grab the opportunities that will be presented to him, with
passion and enthusiasm. With 20 disciplines from which to choose, and an
intense three years ahead of him, Thabo has been given an opportunity to shine
with some of the best in the film industry. Countless AFDA alumni have gone on
to win major local and international awards and continue to make a significant
impact on world cinema, so the future looks bright for him.”
AFDA has campuses in Johannesburg and Cape
Town, and will open its doors at in 2a Highdale Road, in Glen Anil, near Durban
North in January 2013.
For more information contact Milena Gevers
on milenag@afda.co.za or call 031 569
2252.