How to keep up with awards season in South Africa

There are plenty of reasons to keep up with Hollywood’s awards season — whether you’re a film buff, a fashion follower, or just someone who wants to be in the loop on Twitter, awards season offers bountiful gifts for all.

But it’s tough to do in South Africa: not only do we have to deal with sleep-depriving time differences, but we also have to cope with DStv’s frustrating online TV guide. Which is why I took it upon myself to trudge the murky waters of The Guide to find out what I can about 2018’s awards season.

Keeping up with awards season in South Africa means early mornings, bad TV guides, and a whole lot of dedication

Any missing information will be updated as details are made available. Each of the following can be streamed on DStv Now. Any other means of catching these awards will likely not be legal.

Here’s what we know.

8 January: The Golden Globe Awards

Kicking off the year is The Golden Globe Awards, celebrating the best in film and TV as decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (i.e. journalists from outside the US who write about Hollywood).

Host? Seth Meyers

Most nominations? Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, followed by Steven Spielberg’s The Post, and HBO’s Big Little Lies. Here’s a list on when and where you can catch the nominees in SA.

When? Catch the red carpet shenanigans on E! Entertainment (channel 124) at 1am on Monday. The actual show starts at 3am on M-Net Movie Premiere (channel 104). If you’re not that eager, the entire show will run again from 9.10pm Monday on M-Net (channel 104).

22 January: The Screen Actors Guild Awards

The Screen Actors Guild Awards (or SAG Awards) celebrates the best in acting across film and TV.

Host? Kristen Bell has been selected as the first-ever host of the SAG awards.

Most nominations? Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri got the most film noms. Over in TV, Netflix’s GLOW ruled the roost. Here’s the full list.

When? The red carpet will be showing on E! Entertainment from 1am on 22 January. The actual show doesn’t appear in DStv’s online guide, but the company has confirmed it will be broadcast live, which will be 3am Monday. It’ll likely show on one of M-Net’s channels.

29 January: The Grammy Awards

Taking a quick break from film, the Grammy Awards offer up the finest in music, as decided by the Recording Academy Voting Memebers (ie music industry professionals).

Host? James Corden

Most nominations? Jay-Z leads the pack with eight nominations, followed by Kendrick Lamar with seven, and Bruno Mars with six. Here’s the full list.

When? As usual, E! is offering red carpet coverage from 12.30am Monday. The show will be live on VUZU AMP (channel 114) at 3am.

5 March: The Academy Awards

The Academy Awards (or The Oscars) is considered film’s most prestigious event, as 6000 Hollywood professionals vote on the year’s best in motion pictures.

Host? Jimmy Kimmel will be reprising his 2017 role as host of The Oscars.

Most nominations? Nominations will be announced to the public on 23 January.

When? The Oscars have yet to show up on DStv’s guide, but will start like the others at 3am, and will likely have pre-show red carpet coverage on E!.

22 March: The South African Film and Television Awards

The SAFTAs are hosted by the National Film and Video Foundation to honour excellence in the local film and TV industry.

Host? TBD

Most nominations? TBD

When? This is tricky. Officially, the show will be held “between 22 and 24 March”, but DStv announced Bonang Matheba and Maps Maponyane as the hosts for the red carpet coverage on 22 March at 8pm on E! — so it’s safe to assume the show will be held straight after. The channel and exact time have not yet been announced.

As a final note: The People’s Choice Awards are still being listed by DStv as occurring in January. They have been moved outside of awards season to November.

Happy watching!

Featured image: Paul Hudson via Flickr (CC 2.0, resized)