Nedbank ‘Money Relationships’

I DID THAT CRAFT AWARDS
Judge’s Pick

IDIDTHAT JUDGE
Nomfundo Myeni

AWARDED
05 October 2026

JUDGES COMMENT ON DIRECTION
“This is not an ad. No. It’s a mirror. An invitation that digs deep and tells an uncomfortable story about money through Zee Ntuli’s eye. Each scene teases you with theatre of the mind – making you yearn for a series you want to binge overnight. The cinema, the grade, the lighting – the way the lens gives you a visceral feeling. How the music is a character, not just a filler. The cast, the performance; the way body language is used more than the words themselves. The economic relevance locally & globally. I love how the title at the end prompts discourse through a question. Not a statement. So, naturally, I watched it again and again and again. I’m jealous, but in a good way.”

– Nomfundo Myeni, Creative Director at We Are Bizarre

I DID THAT CRAFT AWARDS
Judge’s Pick

IDIDTHAT JUDGE
Lourens van Rensburg

AWARDED
05 October 2026

JUDGES COMMENT ON DIRECTION
“For me as a director, filmmaker and a storyteller, it’s so encouraging to see such an amazing young crop of really talented storytellers and filmmakers coming into their own and excelling in their craft. As, I believe, Zee is at the top of his game, and it’s beautiful to watch a young master in full flight.

The piece is beautiful and inspired especially within the decisions made on how to tell the story. Upfront we feel like the lead is calling the shots but later we realise this second character ‘the money’ is actually calling the shots.

Instead of just showing how irresponsibility can be your downfall. Zee made money a character and treated it like an evil angel on the lead’s shoulder whispering and slowly changing the decisions he made. And that’s the internal monologue a lot of people have in reality.

For me, direction is all about choices, and sometimes it’s not about what we choose to put in, but what we choose to leave out. That is the difference between a good piece and a great piece. And in this case, one can sense that the director’s choices of what was left out and what was left to the audience’s imagination, in the subtlety in which all the choices were handled. And some of the obvious choices made was superb visual storytelling in the choice of cinematographers, the choice of editor, the choice of music and sound design, casting, wardrobe, art direction, production design. All those were handled with such sensitivity and such consideration; and crafted together beautifully to make this really special.

Less is more, and there is a lot of that, which made my job as a judge easy. So well done, young man. Can’t wait to see what you do next. Great work.”

– Lourens Van Rensburg, Director at 7 Films

View I DID THAT Craft Awards September 2026 showcase

Darling Films’ Zee Ntuli turns Money into a man for Nedbank’s ‘Money Relationships’.

Created by Joe Public, Nedbank’s new campaign uses the language of a psychological thriller to explore the emotional hold money can have over our lives.
Darling Films director Zee Ntuli approached Joe Public’s Money Relationships for Nedbank as a psychological thriller. Casting, blocking, reflections and a score built from the sounds of money all work towards the same thing. Hiding the reveal in plain sight.

Sam is doing well when Ben enters his life. Charismatic, generous and quietly enabling, Ben makes success feel easier and Sam feel more powerful. Ben is Money.
The challenge was making that reveal feel inevitable without letting the audience see it coming. Ben couldn’t arrive looking like trouble. The casting had to make you want him around. He needed to feel seductive, confident, useful. Someone who makes Sam feel sharper simply by being close to him. The film pulls us into that seduction first, before allowing the relationship to become invasive. Building on Joe Public’s original concept, Ntuli made Money more active inside Sam’s world.

Ben opens doors. Hands him keys. Dresses him. Gets him through ropes and into private spaces. He doesn’t just accompany Sam through his success. He physically and emotionally enables it. That idea found its way into the blocking.
Working closely with cinematographer Adam Bentel, Ntuli carried that thinking into the camera language and composition. Doors, lifts, gates and thresholds recur throughout the film. Ben is often the person moving Sam through them. Money, quite literally, opens doors. Later those same ideas start to turn. Access becomes intrusion. Ben begins appearing in increasingly private parts of Sam’s life. Reflections quietly do another job. Mirrors, windows and polished surfaces keep Ben’s presence slightly uncertain. Sometimes Sam appears in a reflection while Ben does not. Nothing is announced. The clues simply sit there.

Production designer William Boyes helped build those opportunities into the spaces themselves, giving the visual idea somewhere to live without drawing attention to it. The compositions shift too. As Ben occupies more of Sam’s attention, his wife starts losing space inside the frame. Foreground, background, who Sam faces, who he turns away from. Small changes in blocking let the relationship deteriorate visually before the story needs to spell it out. The same approach applies to the score.

Working with Chris Snyman on the music and sound design, the team built the score from sounds associated with money.
Coins, money counters, card-machine beeps, gambling sounds and the stock exchange bell became raw material for the music. They were stretched, buried and distorted until their origins almost disappeared.

So Money is sitting inside the soundtrack from the beginning too.

As Sam starts to unravel, the score follows. Rhythm slips. Textures distort. The music becomes less settled, then strips back for the final reveal.
Much of the film’s unease was created practically through casting, performance, staging, cinematography, production design, sound and edit. The craft is doing the revealing long before the story does. Produced in South Africa by Darling Films, Money Relationships takes a strong conceptual idea and lets the filmmaking carry it. By the time Ben disappears, the clues have been there for us all along.

At its centre is one simple question.
What is your relationship with money?

Client/Brand: Nedbank
Group Executive Marketing and Corporate Affairs: Khensani Nobanda
Executive Head of Marketing Strategy: Tebogo Motsepe

Agency: Joe Public

Group Chief Creative Officer: Pepe Marais
Chief Creative Office: Xolisa Dyeshana
Integrated Executive Creative Officer: Martin Schlumpf
Creative Director: Michelle McKenna
Creative Director: Wynand Botha
Agency Producer: Diane Cole
Executive Business Growth Director: Candice Shortt
Integrated Business Unit Director: Phindile Ndzekeli
Senior Account Manager: Ashley Bruce

Film Production & Crew
Film Production Company: Darling Films

Director: Zee Ntuli
Executive Producers: Melina McDonald & Lorraine Smit
Producer: Nicci Cox
DOP: Adam Bentel
Production Manager: Ali Du Plessis
Production Co-ordinator: Jamie Den Dunnen
Director’s Assistant: Siya Xaba
Production Designer: William Boyes
Costume Stylist: Peter Georgiades
1st AD: Greg Martin
1st CAM ASST: Nick Turvey
VTO: Thando Ntombela
DIT: Nicolaas Van Zyl
Key Grip: Wd Du Plessis
Gaffer / Lighting: Nick Rankin
Hair & Make up: Suaad Jeppie
Unit Manager: Jono Kriel
Talent / Performer: Wanda Zuma / Martial / Avu
SFX: Firehouse Effects
Sound Operator: Claire Hesom
Cast Co-ordinator: Liam Green

Editing Company: Mushroom Media
Offline Editor: Matthew Swanepoel

Post Production (Online): Mushroom Media
Post Production Producer: Zintle Boki / Luaan Hong
Colourist: Terry Simpson
Online Artist: Novak Miler
Visual effects VFX: Marco Raposo De Barbosa

Sound & Music: (Not an IDIDTHAT company) 


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