14th kykNET Silwerskerm Festival is a hub for Afrikaans film and TV industry
The 14th kykNET Silwerskerm Festival, taking place from 19 to 22 August in Camps Bay, Cape Town, boasts a diverse programme that reflects the depth and variety of Afrikaans cinema.
According to Waldimar Pelser, Director: Premium Channels, Camps Bay is the place to be during the 14th Silwerskerm Festival, “which belongs to young filmmakers, with much to show and say”.
A total of 22 films will be screened, comprising 17 short films (including five documentary shorts) and four feature films. Established directors and screenwriters show their craft, while emerging filmmakers get the opportunity to enter the world of visual storytelling. Eighteen films compete in the competition, with the winners announced on Saturday 22 August. (One feature film and two short films are not part of the competition.)
Pelser says new voices take centre stage, with documentaries and short films exploring wide-ranging themes in different variants of Afrikaans. The histories woven into some stories form part of the grain of South African narratives and will resonate with a new generation of viewers.
Among the short films are love stories – from the quirky and humorous (Twee persent) to the still forbidden and unacceptable gay love (As ek kon kies). Death is at the core of Wag ’n bietjie, with a son who pays a stranger to sit with his mother in her dying hours, while the descendants in ’n Poppy op die heuwel literally dig a grave in the middle of the night for a loved one so she can be laid to rest beside her mother. Violence as a theme is highlighted from different angles: a couple robbed late at night in the streets of Cape Town (Trilstraat) and a complex take on gender-based violence (Verwerking). The search for acceptance and owning your identity or pursuing dreams is illuminated in Genoeg, Short Back & Sides and Yaadt Queen. And Change flips a coin and says, no matter how it lands – heads or tails – we are becoming a cashless society and the days of change are numbered… something that was so much a part of our communities and lives.
The makers of short documentaries ask interesting questions. How does it feel to be a redhead (Rooi van aard) or a real arm-wrestling champion (Druk dit!), or a collector who develops a Tretchikoff obsession after buying a work on the internet (Pappa Kitsch)? How deep do the wounds still run from forced removals under the Group Areas Act (Die grond onthou)? And what does it take to keep the minds of top athletes (from rugby players to swimmers) healthy (Die gees agter die spiere)?
Pelser says kykNET is proud of this year’s offering, “of filmmakers who perform wonders. In a time of increasing pressure and change, the festival remains a steady anchor: a space where films are watched, new voices are discovered, and conversations are ongoing about the future, sustainability and the growth of our industry.”
Back at this year’s festival is Nico Scheepers with Landmyn, Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar with Marita van der Vyver’s youth novel Al wat ek weet, and Zandré Coetzer with Silas en die Ysbeer op Tafelberg. Their films screened at the 2025 Silwerskermfees were respectively Hen, Carissa and My f*k, Marelize!.
Award-winning films that have already been screened at several international festivals and also form part of the programme include Jacobs and Delmar’s Variasies op ’n tema – winner of the prestigious Tiger Award (the top prize) at the Rotterdam International Film Festival – as well as Dian Weys’s short film Aasvoëls and director and co-writer Aadil Dhalech’s Bosryer. The programme also includes the feature-length documentary From Dust We Spin by Julia Jansch – recently screened at DIFF – which offers an intimate look at spinning as both a subculture and a force of expression in the community.
The public can book tickets from Monday 22 June via Quicket, including for the glamorous blue-carpet event at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Saturday 22 August.
Pelser says the Silwerskermfees is an opportunity for audiences to enjoy South Africa’s stories, and kykNET invites everyone to support the films – whether at the festival or when they find their way to the cinema and other screens. “That is how we keep the industry alive and growing. These films offer a glimpse into the many ways in which Afrikaans is lived and experienced – captured through the lens of the filmmakers who create it.”
Also consult the full programme for the panel discussions, workshops and a masterclass offered by writer-director Weys, available on the website www.silwerskermfees.co.za. Applications to attend the masterclass open on Friday 19 June, with limited places available for both the workshops and the masterclass.
Several episodes of new television series will also be screened at the festival. These are prestigious productions created in collaboration with international partners.
The kykNET Silwerskerm Festival is sponsored by the City of Cape Town, Vuma, the Dagbreek Trust, Village ’n Life, and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).