Steyn du Toit
CINEPHILES from all over the country are making their way to Camps Bay for the start of the fourth kykNET Silwerskerm Festival today. Taking place at the Bay Hotel, this four-day event will see the screening of 10 new or digitally restored features, 15 short films, 22 existing titles and 12 documentaries.
“We celebrate all kinds of screens – big and small,” says Karen Meiring, M-Net’s director of Afrikaans channels. After an intimate 2011 debut in Prince Albert, this annual event – a brainchild of Meiring – has since grown exponentially, moved down to Cape Town and launched several new programme offerings along the way.
“Film and television is our core business. Through Silwerskerm we get to invest back into the industry. The festival was originally started with the intent to find new filmmakers, and to provide them with a platform through which they could experiment, gain experience and showcase their work.
“We also wanted to create an event where we could celebrate new work by established film-makers, as well as to create a space where established and younger professionals from the industry could rub shoulders. These are the building blocks of any industry – ultimately leading to higher quality, more jobs and the opportunity to tell more of our country’s stories.”
This year’s festival boasts its biggest, most diverse line-up to date. And while the core focus remains on Afrikaans cinema, the genre’s context within South Africa’s broader film industry is explored through the inclusion of several non-Afrikaans features.
“One such film is first-time director Zee Ntuli’s Hard To Get, which was selected to open the Durban International Film Festival last month. Screened as part of our full-length features category, it is a fast-paced action romance exploring love in contemporary South Africa.”
“Another feature not to be missed is Abraham. It marks the return of legendary director Jans Rautenbach ( Die Kandidaat, Blink Stefaans) after more than 30 years. Shot using only natural light, it’s his most personal film to date and one that challenges what we know about storytelling and narrative structure.”
Following its theatrical and arts festival success over the past two years, the filmed version of Saartjie Botha’s Balbesit will premiere during the week. Jaco Bouwer once again handled the direction and it was filmed during the play’s Artscape run in June.
Other feature films making their debut are Leading Lady, directed by Henk Pretorius ( Fanie Fourie’s Lobola), which revolves around an English actress who persuades a South African farmer to help prepare her for a role; Seun, Darrell James Roodt’s new film that looks at the conscription of young men into military service during apartheid; and Die Spook van Uniondale, chronicling a doomed love affair against the backdrop of Uniondale’s most famous netherworldly hitchhiker.
Similar to previous years, the festival’s short film category will deliver a collection of titles promising to surprise, engage and entertain visitors. Funded by kykNET and developed under the mentorship of four industry stalwarts – Deon Opperman, Andre Scholtz, Mitzi Booysen and Herman Binge – entries in this category tripled in number since last year.
“We’ve observed a definite improvement in the quality of the submissions this year. When reading through them it quickly became clear that these proposals were written by people with passion and with the desire to tell unique cinematic stories.”
Among the short films that made the cut are Charles J Fourie’s Agterplaas, based on his acclaimed play about a poor white family living in a caravan; Jan-Hendrik Burger’s Almon, Henry, a mysterious tale written by, and starring Nataniël; Tertius Kapp’s Iemand Anders, in which Albert Pretorius plays a man slowly losing his grip on the world of middle class routine; and Nicola Hanekom’s Trippie, another festival theatre production making its way to the silver screen.
Presented as part of Silwerskerm for the first time this year is a documentary feature category. After walking away with the award for Best Direction in a South African Documentary at the Durban International Film Festival, Annalet Steenkamp’s I, Afrikaner will be one of the titles christening this component.
“Documentaries are developing more and more into a long form storytelling format. It isn’t about documenting a lot of interviews and footage anymore, but rather about filming what you need to help your narrative along,”
says Meiring.
“I’m particularly excited about ’n Song vir Emily, a biographical film about Emily Hobhouse narrated by Karen Zoid. Involving someone from the ‘now’ generation telling the story of the ‘then’ generation, it’s remarkable how relevant it simultaneously is to the ‘now’ generation.
“Then there’s Joost: Spel van Glorie, chronicling Joost van der Westhuizen’s battle with motor neuron disease. Director Odette Schwegler also looks at the difference Joost wants to make as a person during the time that he has left. It’s a heartbreaking and inspiring film.”
Several other pertinent topics will be explored through the rest of the documentary programme. They include fracking in the Karoo Unearthed, Driekopseiland’s rock engravings Cracking the Code, rhino poaching Op die Spoor van Ons Renosters, Boots on the Ground as well as Oppikoppi’s 20th birthday Oppikoppi 20: Tussen Hemel en Hel.
“A final component making up this year’s festival is our series of panel discussions. Bringing together experts from the industry, among the topics under the spotlight are finding ways to develop scripts faster (Wednesday, 2pm), breathing new life into the genre of comedy (Thursday, 12pm) and self-censorship in filmmaking (Friday, 2pm).”
l To book tickets for the Silwerskerm Festival, call TicketPro at 0861 008 277, or see www.ticketpros.co.za.
For the full festival schedule and programme information, see www.facebook.com/silwerskermfees or follow @SilwerskermFees on Twitter.