The film, based on a story written by talented teenager Amber-Jay van Rooyen, won the awards for Best Film, Best Actor/Actress (to Amber-Jay for her role in the film) and UNESCO Fellini medal (awarded to the film that best embodies the spirit and culture of its country)
The film was also nominated for Broadcasters Award and Best Film as voted by Italian children only. Twelve countries took part in the 2009 festival with 23 films competing.
The CIAK Junior Festival competition is an international TV project, which exposes children, aged 10 to 15, to the audio-visual medium of film. It is the making and broadcasting of short films written by children and produced by TV Networks of participating countries. Children are invited to write and submit stories for a short film. A panel of experts comprising producers, directors and scriptwriters, judge all the stories and the chosen winning story is made into a short film. The actors include the author of the story and other children who are not professional actors or have never had the experience of being part of a film.
Coming Home is part of the SABC's Lights, Camera Action! Project, which aims to produce children's short films in each province. So far four films have been produced.
