by Thinus Ferreira
The 14th kykNET Silwerskermfees returned to Camps Bay and The Bay Hotel from 19 to 22 August as questions abound over the future of this crucially important South African film festival.
The 14th film festival, as with everything done by the pay-TV operator, is now in the crosshairs of cost-cutting after Canal+'s takeover of MultiChoice, with the new French bosses looking to cut costs by €400 million (R7.5 billion) by 2030.
The 14th kykNET Silwerskermfees film festival screened four features, 17 short films, and the first episodes of several upcoming new TV series and documentaries.
The programme this year, for the first time, also included short films from the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival - another indication of how Canal+'s takeover of MultiChoice is infusing and changing all aspects of what used to be MultiChoice, including the Silwerskermfees.
Disturbing to a lot of South African filmmakers - both veteran and established as well as emerging content makers - is that there were only three feature-length films in competition at the film festival. It was the smallest offering of new Afrikaans films in years.
That's due to content that was not ready, not ready in time, and simply not produced, for this year's festival.
TVwithThinus is aware of, and first spoke months ago, to filmmakers, producers and content makers who said their already approved projects for this year's Silwerskermfees got stalled when they were told the money is not forthcoming and that they would therefore not be in any position to meet production and principal photography deadlines.
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In his speech on the festival's opening night, Waldimar Pelser, M-Net director for premium channels, noted that "At a time when more and more people are watching TV and film on small screens, often with video on top of video and attention that is divided, this week we will sit in a dark room and focus on just one thing: the projection on the big screen of Afrikaans stories that we at DStv and MultiChoice believe deserve to be made".
