Damon Berry, Garth Breytenbach and Hlubi Mboya star in Kate D’hotman’s SundanceTV Shorts Competition-winning film

SundanceTV announced the winner of the 2nd Annual SundanceTV Shorts Competition.  The winner of the Jury Prize is Life’s a Drag by Joburg-based filmmaker Kate D’hotman. The film features performances by Damon Berry, Garth Breytenbach and Hlubi Mboya.

She receives a trip for two to London, which includes a screening of her film at a SundanceTV event during Sundance Film Festival 2019: London, taking place from 30 May to 2 June. The winning film will also be broadcast on SundanceTV, later in the year.

The film is a dark comedy about a depressed zombie named Bob. He used to be cool. He used to have groupies. He used to have all his body parts. Now, although the undead and the living have reached a truce, Bob is finding it hard to adjust. Life after death just isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He’s in a dead-end job working for a narcissist. Up until now, he’s played by the rules, but Bob is reaching his breaking point, and he’s about to lose his temper… Life’s a Drag offers a hilarious reimagining of a world in the grip of a zombie apocalypse.

 “Proof that the zombie comedy genre can still have fun ideas and remind you how you are almost a zombie in today’s world,” Mike Plante, senior rogrammer for Sundance Institute, said.

READ: SundanceTV Announces 2nd SA Short Film Competition

 D’hotman said she made the film because she wanted to have some fun and flex her directing muscles again. She said she hoped that the film could enter it into a few festivals to get some exposure in the lead up to her first feature.

“I certainly didn’t expect to win such a prestigious award! It’s a huge honour and I’m so glad that the film has been so well received. The team all worked really hard, on a less than shoestring budget and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone,” D’hotman said.

The Jury Prize for the 2019 SundanceTV Shorts Competition was judged on a number of criteria, including creativity, entertainment value, original storytelling and production values. The jury, led by Plante, included Harold Gronenthal from SundanceTV, Aletta Alberts, executive head of Content Strategy and Third Party Channels, Multichoice and award-winning South African director and producer Sara Blecher.

“The SundanceTV Shorts Competition provides the ideal platform to discover and showcase emerging creativity and exciting new voices in filmmaking. We’re looking forward to premiering Kate D’hotman’s winning film at an event during the Sundance Film Festival 2019: London as well as bringing it to an international audience when it’s broadcast on SundanceTV later this year. Our thanks go to all of the filmmakers who submitted entries as well Sundance Institute and our partners for their support of the competition,” said Geraud Alazard, Senior vice president of marketing at AMC Networks International.