Tumelo Lekena
An afternoon with SAFTA winning Screenwriter-Director Tumelo Lekena and Zunaid Mansoor
Tumelo Lekena is the debut screenwriter and director of the short film Father's Day, which took home the SAFTA for Best Short Film in 2024. The film was financially supported by the KZN Tourism and Film Authority, the NFVF, and the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. It premiered at the 2023 IGNITE International Film Festival in the UK, and has earned 21 awards to date. The film was accepted into 45 international film festivals including the U.S. and Canada, and has been adopted into school and college syllabi. Tumelo’s love and passion for storytelling was ignited at the age of 8. In 2018, he left a corporate job and relocated to Cape Town to accept a scholarship at the Big Fish Digital School of Filmmaking. He worked as a casting director thereafter. Father's Day is his first short film, and was produced by his company Bunzi Bear Pictures.
Minenhle Luthuli
Dissecting The Anatomy of an Award-Winning Short Film: An Afternoon with Screenwriter-Director Minenhle Luthuli and Zunaid Mansoor
Minenhle Luthuli is a South African television scriptwriter and filmmaker. An alumnus of the prestigious Berlinale Talents Durban edition, her debut short film Heart Attack screened at over 25 film festivals, including Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival and went on to achieve streaming distribution on Showmax. She is the 2022 NEFT short film competition winner for her short film, Get Ready With Me. In 2024, she premiered her short film Make A Wish as a NEFT All-Star participant during the Durban FilmMart. In July 2025, she will premiere her latest short film, Being You at the Durban International Film Festival. She is currently working on her first feature film, Abany'Omama which was presented at the Durban FilmMart Pitch and Finance Forum and European Film Market's Toolbox programme. At film school, her experimental film Bars was selected to screen at four campuses across South Africa, and was selected in her screenwriting class as Best Experimental Narrative 2017. Minenhle has represented South Africa along with the National Film and Video Foundation at Cannes, and has become a ubiquitous part of our film industry.
Phumi Morare
The Road to Oscar Gold: An Afternoon Class with Screenwriter-Director Phumi Morare and Zunaid Mansoor
Phumi Morare is an award-winning South African writer and director, passionate about exploring the female gaze in intimate, character-driven stories. Her short film Lakutshon’ Ilanga (When The Sun Sets) won an NAACP Image Award, a Student Academy Award Gold Medal, and was Oscar-shortlisted. It premiered at Telluride, Clermont-Ferrand, and was acquired by WarnerMedia OneFifty. Her latest film, Why The Cattle Wait, had its local debut at the Africa Rising International Film Festival and its international debut at the Mill Valley Film Festival. It has traveled internationally, including a screening at the Atlanta Film Festival, and was recently awarded Best Short Film at the Joburg Film Festival. A Tribeca Chanel and Berlinale Talents alumna, Phumi holds an MFA in Film Directing from Chapman University and has a background in investment banking and management consulting.
Sibusiso Khuzwayo
An Afternoon Class with Award-Winning Screenwriter-Director Sibusiso Khuzwayo and Zunaid Mansoor
Sibusiso Khuzwayo began his career as a TV editor, working on popular shows like Real Goboza, Rize Mzansi, Live Amp, 3 Talk, and Headline. While editing, Sibusiso spent his free time making PSAs and low-budget music videos to improve his directing skills. His hard work paid off, and his showreel impressed producers who gave him opportunities to direct TV shows.
He went on to direct reality shows such as Big Brother, One Day Leader, and Future Leaders. One of his biggest achievements was directing 100% Youth on SABC1, a show about young creative artists. Under his direction, the show was nominated for a SAFTA three years in a row and won the award in 2017.
Although Sibusiso was successful in television, his dream was to make films. He had an idea for a short film but doubted his ability to write the script because he had no formal training. After months of searching for a writer without success, he decided to write it himself. To his surprise, the script became a semifinalist in the international Screencraft competition. This script was later turned into The Letter Reader, an award-winning short film. The film won several awards, including Best Short Film at the 2020 SAFTAs, 2020 Rapid Lion International Film Festival, 2020 African Movie Academy Awards, and the 2019 Shnit Worldwide Short Film Festival. The film was also distributed worldwide on Netflix. Sibusiso has also developed three feature film projects with funding from the NFVF (National Film and Video Foundation) and KZN Film Commission. Recently, he wrote episodes of Netflix dramas Kings of Joburg (Season 3) and Bare, where he also directed an episode. He also created and co-produced Code 13, a 13-episode drama series for Mzansi Magic, which aired during the prime-time Sunday slot. Currently, Sibusiso works as a writer and storyliner on eTV’s flagship daily drama Scandal!