All that glitters: Having been knighted, actor Antony Sher was celebrated by Ambassador Cheryl Carolus at South Africa House. As an openly gay man he lamented that his partner, theatre director Gregory Doran, would not be called Lady Gregory from then on.
Going for gold: In an industry full of fat egos and tiny balls, film-maker Gavin Hood has attempted to alter the divine order. Having single-handedly raised the finance for his film A Reasonable Man he went on to write and direct it, casting himself and expatriate Nigel Hawthorne in the leading roles. His energy was rewarded when he won best director, best actor and best Anglophone film at the M-Net All Africa Film Awards in Cape Town in November.
C’mon baby light my fire: As usual we paid the airfare for hundreds of world-famous foreigners who seem to have given up fawning all over Nelson Mandela once they’ve arrived. Big names included Sting, Stomp, Danny Glover, Mary J Blige, Peter Brooke, The Smashing Pumpkins, Ronnie Jordan, Brian McKnight, Kirk Whalum and Herbie Hancock.
Shooting stars: Locals who went overseas either won awards, bursaries or got sent there by well-meaning corporates and embassies. These included DaimlerChrysler award-winner Kay Hassan, dancers Gregory Maqoma, Moeketsi Kowena and Boyzie Cekwana who performed at Utrecht in the Netherlands and director-performer Robyn Orlin who generally saw a lot of Europe this year.
Blowing out candles: While the world celebrated the new century, some paused to remember that it was 20 years since the shooting of John Lennon and 100 years since the death of Oscar Wilde. But the big hit was Bart Simpson, who took the first small step to manhood when he turned 10 at the beginning of the year. Who knows perhaps in 30 years’ time Bart will be the president of the United States …