Best in Craft awarded to both 7Films directors Hayden Brown and Jozua Malherbe
This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by the honourable Tshepo Tumahole, Integrated CD at Joe Public United and Morgan Dingle, Director at Your Girlfriend. We don’t know what they’ve put in the water over at 7Films but both 7Films directors Hayden Brown and Jozua Malherbe were awarded Best in Craft. Take a bow team!
‘What are the IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards?’ Every month we team up with ad industry leaders to award the finest in South African film and production craft across these different categories: Direction, Editing, Cinematography, Animation and VFX, Online, Original Sound, Sound Design and Final Mix. It’s just another way that we make it ridiculously easy to stay up-to-date with who’s doing the best work in the country.
BEST IN CRAFT (DIRECTION & CINEMATOGRAPHY)
Front Runner ‘Keep Searching’
7Films | Hayden Brown
Awarded by Morgan Dingle
‘All of us in the film industry shared a collective soul spasm back in Feb when the revelatory Sora showcase dropped — a spectacle of incredibly realistic AI generated shots that made it quite clear that The Machines are most certainly coming. So when a piece like this comes along, it gives hope that The Robots might have a tougher time than first thought when trying to make ads in our stead. Director/cinematographer Hayden Brown follows three generations of surfers through the Transkei in an unpretentious, beautifully executed, and soulfully authentic spot that tugged at my emotions so hard it had my son asking: “Daddy, what are you watching that’s making you sniff like that?” My reply: “Roof racks, m’boy. Roof racks…” Take that, Robots.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Morgan Dingle, Director at Your Girlfriend
‘STILTE’ (Short Film)
7Films | Jozua Malherbe
Awarded by Tshepo Tumahole
‘Two words. Perfect storytelling. I really loved this piece of work and I watched it more than once, more than twice. So beautiful, so real, it’s magnificent. When it comes to craft, simplicity is always the hardest thing to achieve and here it was done with utmost consideration. It’s an art to not over complicate but rather let the story do the heavy lifting. This was a joy to watch, well done.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Tshepo Tumahole, Integrated CD at Joe Public United
CRAFT MENTION (DIRECTION)
Casa Madero Wine ‘Since 1597’
Bioscope Films | Fausto Becatti
Awarded by Morgan Dingle and Tshepo Tumahole
‘Nothing makes us happier than when people work hard to please us. Mr. Becatti, ever intrepid, spent countless hours on another continent painstakingly crafting 76 exquisite black-and-white shots and filtering them through an arduous post process to obtain an organic and earthy look that is a visual breath off fresh air in this digitally saturated marketplace. The result: a ninety second abstraction that so perfectly embodies wine it would get even Jesus’ Juices flowing. The spot’s brilliant payoff line is Beautiful Things Don’t Ask for Attention — well you have mine, Fausto. Bravo, sir.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Morgan Dingle, Director at Your Girlfriend
‘Why is it not longer? The director took us on a journey and it was a beautiful journey alright. A visual feast of note matched with great storytelling. I don’t use the word exquisite a lot, I don’t think anyone should but this work here is exquisite.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Tsepho Tumahole, Integrated CD at Joe Public United
CRAFT MENTION (DIRECTION)
Land Rover ‘Legacy in dust’
Carbon Films | Porteus Xandau
Awarded by Tshepo Tumahole
‘You wouldn’t be wrong to assume that all car commercials are the same but it in this case you would. It’s revealed in the first 10 seconds what the ad is about but you still want to watch it until the end. The director managed to give such a great personality to the car. A gentle tale about an off road vehicle? It takes a special director.’
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Tshepo Tumahole, Integrated CD at Joe Public United
IDIDTHAT GUEST JUDGES:
Tsepho Tumahole, Integrated CD at Joe Public United
Tshepo Tumahole is currently ranked number 1 Copywriter and number 2 Creative Director in Africa and The Middle East according to the Loeries rankings. He is a former Brand South Africa Young Creative of the year (2020) and AdFocus Creative Shape Shifter of the year (2021). Tshepo has won numerous local and international awards for clients such as Chicken Licken, Nedbank and AB InBev. By the age of 28, Tshepo had already judged OneShow, D&AD and Loeries.
Morgan Dingle, Director at Your Girlfriend
Meet Morgan Dingle, a connoisseur of all things film-related since he was knee-high to a popcorn bucket. From the days of pretending to be a heroic Projectionist to surviving the trials of being a Student, Researcher, and Critic (where his toughest critics were his own family at holiday gatherings), Morgan’s journey in the film world has been an epic saga. After lecturing about the intricate nuances of cinema and mastering the art of editing (which sometimes felt like trying to edit his own life’s mishaps), he now proudly wears the hat of a Director. Currently, he’s the creative genius behind the camera at Your Girlfriend, where he transforms everyday moments into comedy gold. When he’s not busy making funny things pretty (or vice versa), you can find him practicing his Oscar acceptance speech in the bathroom mirror and asking ChatGPT to write bios for him.
All Craft Entries
Carbon Films | Kevin Fitzgerald
Pollen Finance ‘Handrè Pollard’
(Direction Craft)
Dave Meinert
Nivea ‘Serdar’
(Direction Craft)
Spitfire Films | AK, Hloni
Lüla ‘Arrive Better, Do Better’
(Direction Craft)
Spitfire Films | Katlego Baaitse
Chicken Licken ‘Baba Valentino’
(Direction Craft)
The Star Film Company | Sam Sterling Court
Betway Casino ‘Get Way More’
(Direction Craft)
7Films | Lourens Van Rensburg
‘STILTE’ (Short Film)
(Cinematography Craft)
Marc Algranti Music | Marc Algranti
Auto&General ‘When suddenly happens, who’s there for you?’
(Music Supervision / Re-Record Craft)
