by Thinus Ferreira
The 11th kykNET Silwerskermfees Afrikaans film festival will take place between 23 and 26 August this year at its longtime azure berth of the Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, Cape Town where multiple new full feature films, including 15 short films will make their debut, along with a first-ever slate of mini-documentaries.
In August, the 11th kykNET Silwerskermfees, a well-attended staple on the calendar of the growing South African film festival circuit, will once again unspool a collection of various features films and short films, in various Afrikaans dialects and genres which have been produced over the past year.
A new addition this year will be the set of mini-documentaries commissioned by the festival which forms part of a festival development project to invest in opening up the factual content genre as the African satellite pay-TV service MultiChoice and M-Net continue to ramp up the output of localised content.
"The Silwerskerm Film Festival plays
a seminal role in the sustainability of the local film and television industry
as it’s the launch pad for high-quality films as well as the careers of bright
and promising storytellers," says Waldimar Pelser, M-Net director of premium
channels.
"We look forward to hosting the festival in August again – the month
festivalgoers have become accustomed to.”
On Sunday 12 February at 21:00,
kykNET (DStv 144) is screening a new documentary TV special entitled Agter
die Silwerskerm chronicling the history and significance of the kykNET
Silwerskermfees.
The documentary, produced by Sentient Creative for kykNET, highlights how the South African film festival discovered, fostered and developed a new generation of local filmmakers.
Festival founders Karen Meiring and
Jan du Plessis share how the festival was conceived and brought to life in 2012 when the
South African film industry was waning due to the lack of funding.
Numerous producers, directors, writers and film crew appear in the documentary whose career trajectory within the industry changed and soared because of
the festival's short film incubator project.
Local filmmakers who appear in the Agter die Silwerskerm documentary include Christiaan Olwagen who clinched several awards for movies such as Johnny is
nie dood nie, Kanarie and Poppie Nongena, Amy Jeptha and Ephraim
Gordon, the visionaries behind the groundbreaking Muslim movie in Afrikaaps Barakat, as well as the filmmaking couple Corné and René van Rooyen who produced Vaselinetjie
and Toorbos.
The kykNET Silwerskermfees patron, Arnold Vosloo, also reminisces about his first Silwerskerm film festival experience.
