On Saturday, 25 July, Media City Academy invites prospective students and their families to step inside South Africa’s only campus on a working production lot for an Open Day unlike any other. More than an opportunity to explore our campus, this year’s event marks the launch of our inaugural Student Film Festival, celebrating original films by our students alongside the work of other emerging South African filmmakers.
There are few moments more rewarding than seeing one of our students recognised on the international stage. This month, Media City Academy proudly celebrates current student Sabelo Khomo, whose short film, Orì, has been officially selected for the Indie Film Awards in New York. The film will screen from 4 to 6 August alongside independent productions from around the world, marking an important milestone for the 23-year-old filmmaker from Hammarsdale.
Every year, thousands of young South Africans make one of the biggest decisions of their lives with surprisingly little information. They choose qualifications and career paths without ever experiencing the industries they’re preparing to enter. It’s no surprise that many students change direction after their first year of study or discover too late that they’ve chosen a path that doesn’t suit them. The problem isn’t a lack of talent. It’s a lack of exposure.
The winter holidays provide something that’s often in short supply during the school year: time. Time to reflect, to reset and, for many families, to start having important conversations about the future. For matric learners, the countdown to the final examinations has truly begun. Before long, they will be making one of the biggest decisions of their lives, deciding what to study and where to study. It is a decision that deserves careful thought, because the right institution should do more than prepare you to graduate. It should prepare you to succeed.
Whether you’re exploring your options or ready to take the next step, our team will guide you through our programmes, career pathways and what it takes to succeed in the creative industries. Parents play an important role in this journey too, so we encourage you to bring them along. It’s a great opportunity for them to meet our team, ask questions and explore the career opportunities available to you.
As part of Orientation Week, Head of School, Zenobia Simelane, took Media City Academy’s inaugural cohort on an excursion to the Human Rights Film Festival, introducing students to documentary storytelling within a real-world context at the very start of their academic journey. The inclusion of the festival reflects a considered approach to how students are introduced to their craft. It situates storytelling within a broader social and cultural context from the outset, encouraging engagement with work grounded in lived experience.
In the early stages of any institution’s growth, the partnerships it chooses to build begin to define its trajectory. They do more than extend reach. They signal intent, establish credibility and shape the kinds of opportunities that become available to the community that gathers around it.
Media City Academy’s Open Day in March was approached with a clear intention. To create an experience that offers insight into how learning takes place within the Academy, not as an abstract concept, but as a lived process. This approach shaped the structure of the day. Rather than positioning the Open Day as a series of presentations, the programme was designed to allow attendees to move through the environment and engage with different aspects of the work as they unfold in practice.
In March 2026, Media City Academy welcomed its inaugural cohort. The Class of 2026 arrives at a moment that carries both promise and responsibility. As the first intake, they will shape the tone, the culture and, in many ways, the identity of the institution as it finds its footing within the broader creative landscape.
Nothing beats experience in the creative industries. That belief sits at the heart of how our Film and Television Production NQF (5) Programme has been designed. With a 30% theory and 70% practical learning model, learners gain hands-on exposure on live sets and real productions, working alongside industry professionals while building real credits on their CVs.