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UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL FOUNDATION 23UKZN Student Filmmakers Reap the Benefits OF THE NIHSS GRANTUKZN%u2019s Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) secured a R1 million Catalytic Research Grant from the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) in 2023, which led to a two-year partnership between the CCA and the Discipline of Media and Cultural Studies (MECS) at UKZN. This resulted in several projects that benefitted MECS Video Production and Advanced Video Production students, while raising UKZN%u2019s profile in the filmmaking space. Aresult of this successful partnership is a short film that won a prestigious Simon Mabhunu Sabela Award, presented by the KwaZulu-Natal Film and Tourism Authority.The NIHSS Catalytic Research Programme aims to revitalise research and teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) in South Africa through research-based projects designed to open new avenues of scholarship. It also supports the development of researcher networks across South African universities and the Global South.The MECS department contributed to the research, teaching and training components of the project under the leadership of CCA Director Dr Ismail Mahomed and a working group of MECS academics %u2013 Dr Luthando Ngema, Mr Mzwandile Makhanya and Ms Abulele Njisane %u2013 alongside CCA Project Officer Ms Noluvuyo Mjoli.Although the core focus of the grant was to develop a partnership between the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), presented by the CCA, and the African Film Festival in