17 – 27 July 2025

2024 SPEAKERS

ISIPHETHU INDUSTRY PROGRAMME

Luthando Mngomezulu

Luthando Mngomezulu is a SAFTA winning director, born and bred in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal. Together with the directing team of The Wife on Showmax he won the South African Film and Television Award for best achievement in directing for a telenovela at the SAFTAs in 2023. He is currently working as the head director of a Showmax Original 13-part Drama series 016 FM set to stream in May 2024. Luthando has worked as a director in numerous productions including Umkhokha The Curse Season 1, Nkalakatha: The Life of Mandoza, Sibongile and the Dlamini’s Season 1, Mother of All, The Wife Seasons 2 & 3, Durban Gen and Uzalo to mention a few. As an executive producer and director of Woldzastage Productions, he has produced and directed several films, including Quotidian, T and emba Made for TV, Red Tape and Maverick (48Hour film project). These films have been funded and produced in collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission and been acknowledged with awards including the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Award for Best Screenplay for Red Tape, five awards at the 2021 48Hour film project for Maverick (Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Music, and 2nd Place Film), and numerous international nominations and awards. He has directed Isithunzi and Nailed staged at the Market Theatre. In September 2023, he directed professor Zakes Mda’s We Shall Sing for the Fatherland, at the Soweto Theatre. He studied dramatic arts at the Durban University of Technology (National Diploma), Tshwane University of Technology (Bachelor of Technology) and at the University of Cape Town (Honours Degree). Luthando has since completed a second honours degree in film and television at the University of the Witwatersrand and is currently completing his master’s degree in film and television at the University of Witwatersrand.