Big bonus: Two brilliant films (out of competition) at the Silwerskerm Festival this year
An excellent feature film, Breathing In, and short, Stilte, indicated as out of competition on the programme – in other words, not eligible for any festival awards – will be shown at the Silwerskerm Festival this year.
Breathing In
On a dark and stormy night during the last bitter days of the Anglo-Boer War, a gravely wounded Boer General is nursed by Anna, a herbalist with mysterious powers. Her seductive, otherworldly daughter, Annie, is also fighting for survival, but needs more than her mother’s concoctions and care to keep going. Barend is the general’s faithful and courageous adjutant, lured into a web spun by mother and daughter. With the cunning help of her mother, the bloodless Annie is kept alive abominably. Barend, accustomed to the horrors of the battlefield, faces a terrible choice, and a new, unspeakable peril.
This feature film is based on a stage play by Reza de Wet and has a runtime of 109 minutes.
The cast consists of Michele Burgers, Jamie-Lee Money, Sven Ruygrok, Lionel Newton, John B. Swart and Shaun Oelf. The director and scriptwriter is Jaco Bouwer, and the cinematographer is Jorrie van der Walt. The original score was composed by Pierre-Henri Wicomb.
Breathing In was screened at various international film festivals and received glowing reviews.
“Stylish chamber horror… a bewildering film of enigmatic beauty and shadowy apprehension.” – Nadine Whitney, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
“A sombre, evocative supernatural chamber piece [with] chilling performances.” – Chad Collins, Dread Central
“Moody, brooding, [and] wonderful to look at.” – Joseph Perry, Gruesome Magazine
“Stands out with its trancelike atmosphere and satisfying conclusion… so chock-full of mystical incantations and witchy meditations that they seem to leak out of the screen and work their magic on the audience.” – Tom Milligan, Nightmarish Conjurings
“An acting showcase that drips with growing dread… one for fans of classic horror films.” – Andrew Mack, Screen Anarchy
“Provocative and harrowing [with] excellent performances [and] a stunning final act.” – Steve Kopian, Unseen Films
Stilte
The multi-award-winning director and cinematographer Jozua Malherbe creates a rich, immersive visual dream full of conflicting emotions around a poem by Hunter Kennedy about fatherhood and how we change over time yet remain the same. Hunter, the lyricist of Fokofpolisiekar and Die Heuwels Fantasties, reads the poem himself.
This short film is just under three minutes long. The cast includes Juan-Pierre Coetzee, Aiden Coetzee, Jacob van Eeden and Hunter Kennedy. The soundtrack was composed by Kennedy and Fred den Hartog.