This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by the very top of our Xmas wishlist; Grant Sithole, Chief Product Officer of Publicis Groupe Africa and Nicole Ackermann, Director at Romance. This was a particularly tough month to judge with a lot of stand-out work, but rising to the top are Paul Ward from Giant Films and Tristan Holmes from The Star Film Company.

‘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: Whenever I go through the judging process I try to find four elements in what is standout work: Educate me, Enlighten me, Entertain me and Envy. Any combination of these gives me great pleasure and this piece delivered all four in varying degrees. The Voicenote storytelling device was used elegantly and with enviable simplicity, beautifully considered cinematography, patient pacing, insane sound design, that hologram of thought had me going back a couple of times to see it again, car shots that were very present yet unimposing and the car was very clearly an integral character in the story, and and and. I really enjoyed it. Well done. I’m very happy that we are back to telling dope stories again. Delicate where they need to be and in your face all the same.
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Grant Sithole, Chief Product Officer of Publicis Groupe Africa

CRAFT MENTION: I really appreciated how well thought out every aspect of the piece was – the cinematography, lighting, performance, grade, music, technique and the unexpected (modern) love story. Beautifully and sensitively handled – you can really feel how the idea was elevated by well-considered direction.
– IDIDTHAT Guest Judge: Nicole Ackermann, Director at Romance