| Motto | Sada tanisens gera kuru da |
|---|---|
Motto in English | Our actions create us |
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1994; 31 years ago (1994) |
| Founder | Garth Holmes Bata Passchier Deon Opperman |
Parent institution | Stadio Holdings (100%) |
| Dean |
|
Total staff | 180+(2024) |
| Students | 2,700+(2024) |
| Location | |
| Campus | Urban |
| Language | English |
| Website | afda |
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AFDA is aSouth African private tertiary education institution that offers higher certificates, undergraduate degrees, and postgraduate degrees infilm,television,performance,business innovation,technology, radio andpodcasting, andcreative writing.
It has four campuses located in Auckland Park,Johannesburg; Observatory,Cape Town; Durban North,Durban; and Gqeberha Campus, Central,Port Elizabeth.[1][2] In 2026 a new campus is set to open inHatfield,Pretoria.[3]
AFDA (an acronym for Africa Film Drama Art, which is no longer used) was founded in 1994 by Garth Holmes, Bata Passchier, and Deon Opperman. Its inaugural class at its Johannesburg school had five students.
In 2003, AFDA's second campus opened inCape Town, followed by theDurban campus in 2012[4] and theGqeberha campus inEastern Cape in 2015.[5] AFDA Botswana was established in 2015 at Oodi College Of Applied Arts And Technology (OCAAT), but has since closed.[6]
In 2017, AFDA was acquired by tertiary education company, Stadio Investments (nowStadio Holdings), a then-wholly owned subsidiary ofJSE-listedCurro Holdings. By then, the school had expanded to 2,000 full-time students, 3,500 alumni, five campuses (eventually scaled back to four), and nine fully accredited degrees.[7]
As of 2024, AFDA has 2,700 students, over 7,000 alumni, and a permanent staff of over 180 academics and administrators.[8]
In November 2024Diaan Lawrenson was appointed as CEO of AFDA. The former actress had been serving as Dean of AFDA Cape Town since 2019.[9]
AFDA offers 3 higher certificates, 4 undergraduate degrees and 4 postgraduate programs.
AFDA is fully accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE),Department of Education (DoE) and theSouth African Qualifications Authority(SAQA), and is a full member ofCILECT (The International Association of Film and Television Schools).
In 2021, 2022, and 2023 AFDA was ranked among the top 5 most innovative South African educational institutions in the creative brand space in The Loeries Official Rankings.[10][11]
AFDA has won the Best Student Film award at theSouth African Film and Television Awards 10 times, withAnguish, a 2023 graduation film from AFDA Johannesburg, taking home the award at the SAFTAS 2024 awards.[12]
At the 33rd 2006 annualStudent Academy Awards (SAA) presented by theAcademy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the AFDA productionElalini, directed by Tristan Holmes, won the Foreign Film Award, making AFDA the only African film to have won the award.[13]
The 2021 SAA Narrative Gold winner,Lakutshon’ IIanga” (When the Sun Sets) by South African Phumi Morare ofChapman University (USA) was filmed in South Africa and produced in association with AFDA.[14]
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33°55′54″S18°28′06″E / 33.93167°S 18.46833°E /-33.93167; 18.46833
