South Africans Jac Hamman and Sarah Scrimgeour directed Tabby McTat, which won the International Emmy for Kids: Animation in New York last night. Adapted from the bestselling Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture book, the BBC Christmas special was up against Mystery Lane, Sharkdog and Wake Up, Carlo!

This is the second iEmmy win in a row for South African directors in the category: another Donaldson-Scheffler adaptation, The Smeds and The Smoos, directed by SA's Daniel Snaddon and Samantha Cutler, won last year. "Growing up you always dream of winning one of these awards but it seems so impossible," says Jac. "You don't imagine as a South African you can reach that level so it feels great to win after all the hard work. We're very proud of the team."

Jac and Sarah weren't able to attend the International Emmys in New York, where kykNET's reality series Die Brug was also nominated in the Non-Scripted Entertainment category. "Being on the other side of the world and being busy with other things, it just makes it a little bit more difficult to get to these big events," says Sarah. "It would have been wonderful but hopefully Tabby will be on the awards circuit for a little bit longer and maybe there's still a chance for us to go to one or two more."

Now streaming on Showmax, Tabby McTat is about the warm and wonderful friendship between a musical cat and a talented busker called Fred. One day when chasing a thief, Fred falls and breaks his leg and is whisked away in an ambulance. What will become of the busker's cat, left alone on the streets of London?

"I used to love busking with my husband Malcolm when we were living in Bristol, and also in Paris," says Julia. "We also both love cats - in fact - we've just acquired two new kittens named Tabitha and McTat. So this story is really close to my heart and combines two of my passions: singing, and cats!"

Sarah's been known to sing to her cats, so Tabby McTat was an obvious fit for her. "I adore cats, and this is a story about a musical cat. Honestly, how could I resist?" Jac was drawn to the themes of the books. "It felt like it was quite a mature message, about how you can grow apart from a friend, and how relationships change, and about a child having to leave their parents' home to start their own family. It's very moving and I was excited to see how we could turn that into a film and push those emotions. I liked the idea of a parent watching the film with their child and that they might just pull them in and squeeze them all the tighter because of those themes about the temporariness of relationships and how they change."

The 25-minute short film stars BAFTA nominees Rob Brydon (Gavin and Stacey) and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísú (Gangs of London) as Fred and Tabby, with Critics Choice Super nominee Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who) as the narrator.

Watch the trailer.

Produced by Magic Light Pictures, Tabby McTat was one of the 10 most-watched shows on TV in England on Christmas Day 2023 and was the most-watched animated feature from UK broadcasters across the festive period, attracting over 8.6m viewers.

Earlier this year, Tabby McTat won the Animation: Preschool category at the BANFF World Media Festival and the Audience Award at the New York International Children's Film Festival. It's also been nominated for a Rose d'Or Award in December, as well as Royal Television Society and Venice TV awards. Tabby McTat is the 11th Donaldson-Scheffler animated special from Magic Light Pictures; you can also streamthe Oscar-nominated The Gruffalo and International Emmy winners Zog and The Smeds and The Smoos on Showmax, with the rest streaming before this Christmas.

Working remotely from Cape Town, Jac and Sarah spent over a year and a half directing a team of just over 80, mostly based in the UK. Tabby McTat is their sixth BBC Christmas special and their second as directors, after the success of Superworm, which won Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie at the Kidscreen Awards last year.

They weren't the only South Africans involved in Tabby McTat. "Our long-time collaborator and art director Shannan Taylor actually moved over to the UK to work on Tabby and she brought so much life into Axel's illustrations, adapting them into this 3D world," says Sarah, who also name-checked lighting lead Armand Filmalter; animators Depesh Cara, Dominic Seeber, Luke Berge, Sam Cutler, Stefano Menegaldo and Stuart Coutts; lighting and compositing artist Dayaan Abarder; and character sculptor Danie Malan.

"Because they'd worked on the earlier Christmas specials with Triggerfish and because they're so good, we do tend to try to hire them if we can," says Jac. "I also think there's a South African work ethic; they just work super hard. Especially with someone like Shannan, you have to pull her away from work..."

They're delighted that their friends and family are at least finally able to see their work on Showmax. "It's an interesting thing when, after two years of working on this thing, it premieres on the BBC on Christmas Day and, being in South Africa, we can't even watch it," says Sarah. "So it's fantastic to be able to finally share it with everyone we know."

In addition to Tabby McTat, another title on Showmax, true-crime drama The Sixth Commandment, won Best Actor for Timothy Spall.

art and culture

South African Duo Win Emmy for Animation Film