The River cleans up at the SAFTAs

How do you know if you’ve struck gold? Well, one way to tell is if everyone shows you major love and appreciation. Just look at 1Magic telenovela The River. The show has been on TV for a little over a year and it’s already one of the country’s best-loved shows. The love was proven after the show cleaned up at the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) held in Sun City this past weekend. The River won 11 awards, including Best Telenovela.

MultiChoice was the most awarded broadcaster, and Mzansi Magic the most awarded channel

MultiChoice was the most awarded broadcaster at The South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA), taking home 48 awards – more than half the total – from more than 150 SAFTA nominations.

These included the most awarded productions in all major categories: feature film, TV comedy, TV drama, soap, and telenovela. Mzansi Magic was the most awarded channel overall, with 15 wins, including for Lockdown, which was the most awarded drama and Isithembiso, which was the most awarded soap.

Speaking about this, Yolisa Phahle, CEO for General Entertainment at MultiChoice said:

“It’s a big deal to have so many talented people and productions recognised at these awards – huge congratulations to all the winners! There’s a virtuous circle where quality local TV shows and movies attract more interest and more buyers, which in turn means more high-quality output, more jobs and an even stronger industry. By creating and funding so many original productions across the MultiChoice stable, I’d like to believe we’re playing our part in driving that virtuous circle and in telling Africa’s stories. The fact that we’re getting interest in our originals from around the world is a testament to the quality of our industry.”

More wins for The River

Fans got really excited when their favourite The River stars took home the coveted statuettes – from Lawrence Maleka, who plays Zolani, scooping the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Telenovela, to Presley Chweneyagae taking home the award for Best Actor in a Telenovela.

The most touching win, however, was Moshidi Motshegwa’s. The actress, who played Malefu, recently announced that she had been let go from the show. Although she’s no longer on The River, her brilliant work was recognised as she was honoured with the award for Best Actress in a Telenovela.

Moshidi gave a moving speech that left a lot of fans in tears. Seriously, we’re not joking here.

Moshidi’s acceptance speech got me real emotional. Queen 👑 😭🙌🏾 #SAFTAs13 pic.twitter.com/zdN8cV6FyR

— wont he do it (@Passeks) March 2, 2019

Accepting the award for Best Telenovela, The River’s co-creator, Phathutshedzo Makwarela said: “I have no words. This project has been a labour of love for Gwydion [Beynon, co-creator] and I. We have worked together in television for eleven years. I want to thank every single cast member of our show, every single crew member. But I really want to thank 1Magic and MultiChoice who believed in us when nobody believed in us, who have stood with us through 260 episodes…”

A bunch of winners 🥂 #TheRiver1Magic #SAFTAs13 #MultichoicexSAFTAs pic.twitter.com/lZBXTaeUnL

— 1max (@1max_TV) March 2, 2019

We can all agree that the show deserves every single award. They’ve given viewers quality and consistency from the day one! We can’t wait to see where the storyline will go in upcoming episodes. If you’ve never watched The River, or if you’ve missed a couple of episodes, make sure that you catch up right here on Showmax. New episodes air 15 minutes after the DStv broadcast.

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