For 29 years, the Young Director Award has championed emerging directing talent from around the world. But this year, YDA is turning its attention toward a region overflowing with creative energy, cinematic innovation, and stories that continue to shape global culture. Or, in the immortal words of Shakira circa FIFA World Cup 2010, ‘This time for Africa.’
There’s something powerful about women opening doors for other women, especially in an industry where access still shapes who gets seen, heard, and celebrated. This year, Open Chair once again secured passes through the Cannes Lions ERA Programme, sending 14 South African women to Cannes. The Croisette won’t know what hit it.
On Tuesday 19 May, the IDIDTHAT Cannes Predictions Dinner returns, bigger than before, bringing together agencies, marketers, and production partners for the live reveal of South Africa’s Cannes Lions contenders for 2026, as predicted by our judges. Make sure you secure a table for your team.
Every month, South Africa’s top creative and production talent help us crown the best in local craft. Now, after a full year of judging, the numbers are in and the official IDIDTHAT Craft Awards Rankings for 2025 are here. From directors and DOPs to editors, sound studios and VFX artists, this is the leaderboard of the teams consistently producing the industry’s most awarded and admired work. Now you know who to work with next!
Top South African editor Xander Vander has launched GOOD EDIT, a boutique offline editing house built around a simple idea: Let's focus on the edit.
For years now, IDIDTHAT has brought together a select group of the industry’s sharpest minds to review the South African work entered into Cannes Lions and to call, ahead of the world, what they believe will rise on the global stage. Here's who's doing South Africa's predicting this year.
After 30 years in the industry, more than 250 Cannes Lions, and a run leading Ogilvy Asia Pacific to seven consecutive Creative Network of the Year titles, Eugene Cheong, has published a 13,000-word HANDWRITTEN book, ‘Cowards Don’t Go To Heaven’.
South Africa is showing up strong at the The One Show, leading the Middle East and Africa region with 48 finalists. From agencies to production and post, the work is cutting through for Team SA, and with every finalist guaranteed a Pencil or Merit, it’s already a big win.
‘Vaseline Verified’ campaign for Unilever racks up an impressive run of Golds and Silvers, ‘Mntana ka Gogo’ bags picks up Silver and Bronze, ‘Show Ghana Love’, ‘Zuzu the Crab’ and ‘The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix’ bring in a few more bronzes. Have a look at all the work and who won what in our Clios 2026 showcase.
Eyeforce director Raphadu Maphoto flew the South African flag high in Paris, taking home recognition at the Le Book Emerging Talent Awards and becoming the first South African to do so.
How do you make people care about messaging that actually matters? Meet Bohemian, the Joburg studio helping brands and NGOs turn purpose-led campaigns into work people care about.
Tipi, Executive Creative Officer at The Odd Number, talks AI shortcuts, purpose-washing, naïve intelligence, and why cracking the big idea is actually just the starting gun.
Fran Luckin, one of South Africa’s most celebrated creative leaders joins Roanna Williams to help Boundless continue its completely madly ambitious and deeply committed pursuit of the world’s most loved ideas.
Ster-Kinekor, the official South African representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, in partnership with Heineken® Beverages is proud to announce the winners of the Cannes Young Lions South Africa 2026 competition.
From 1 April 2026, long-time producer Michelle Duvenage and DIT specialist Cris Duvenage will take ownership of well known Cape Town post company Priest, continuing the studio’s legacy while evolving its offering for a changing production landscape.
Big Cannes Lions news: One of the most sought-after Cannes programmes ‘See It Be It’ just dropped its 2026 cohort, and a South African name made the cut. Congrats Liesl Lategan-Kyriakou, founder and executive producer at Spitfire Films.
South Africa’s film and advertising industry gathered in Johannesburg last week to celebrate the launch of VRtuosus, a real-time virtual production studio now available locally. Hyde Park on a Wednesday night and honestly, what a jol! Drinks in hand, familiar faces from every corner of the local industry catching up across a room that felt equal parts reunion and reveal. Directors, DPs, producers, agency creatives and marketers had all made the trip to experience the new VRtuosus studios and if the turnout was any indication, South Africa’s film and advertising world was paying attention.
Over the past year, The Syndicate has evolved from a solo-led edit suite into a fully-fledged post-production house with serious weight behind it. Now operating from a new space in Joburg on 4th Avenue in Parkhurst, with Gugu Radebe on board as producer and three additional editors on the roster, and a newly launched website, the company can confidently take on full post from offline through to grade, online, animation and sound. For a team that’s been heads-down building, that’s quite a lot to drop on the industry in one go.
Nwabisa’s creative journey has taken her from Joburg to New York, San Francisco and Amsterdam, shaping how she thinks about ideas, craft and culture. Now a Creative Director at TBWA working on brands like Savanna, she brings a global perspective to the work, grounded in human behaviour and South Africa’s uniquely textured humour. In this conversation, she reflects on working across cultures, what separates a good copywriter from a great one, how she chooses collaborators, and why the ideas that scare you a little are often the ones worth fighting for.
The world is in need of soul. That was the starting point for Chicken Licken’s ‘#SoulFood2TheWorld’ campaign, which began with the slightly audacious suggestion that global soul levels are running dangerously low, and that South Africa might be uniquely qualified to intervene. If Soul Food® is what the brand sells, then why not export it? Why not flip the usual narrative and position Mzansi not as the recipient of aid, but as the provider? High time, we say! So, we got some of the creators of the campaign from Joe Public and 7Films in a room to find out how they made this work happen.