Short film by established filmmakers: ARK
It’s the year 2075. On a spaceship en route to Mars, two chosen young Afrikaans individuals, Noa (Ben Albertyn) and Mira (Kristen Raath), are tasked with securing the survival of a people and their heritage. In producer Emma Kotze and writer-director Johann Vermaak’s science fiction drama ARK, the boundaries of Afrikaans filmmaking are pushed as familiar themes are explored through an innovative, interstellar lens. The team blends live actors, puppetry, special effects and purpose-built sets to bring this vision to life.
Johann and Emma spoke to us about the film:
As with your previous Silwerskermfees short film, Die groot twis, you’re again pushing the boundaries of what content is made in Afrikaans with ARK?
Johann: I’ve always loved 70s science fiction – the visual style and the almost naive optimism about a utopian future. The Afrikaans TV series Interster was one of my inspirations. The idea was to transpose that same feeling and satirical perspective to South Africa and to Afrikaans. There are subtleties in the dates we use that viewers will hopefully pick up on.
You explore multiple themes in ARK, including love and the myth of Afrikaners as a chosen people … How would you summarise the film’s underlying themes?
Johann: I deliberately included multiple layers, but at its heart the story is about a romantic relationship. We’ve seen this narrative many times before: two people begin a relationship filled with hope, and then things unravel. We just take it to extreme atmospheres … literally. At its core, ARK is about the myths we tell ourselves.
Emma: True to the science fiction genre, ARK introduces viewers to an imagined world while tackling universal or primal themes. It interrogates human identity – how it is formed in intimate relationships and within the broader collective of cultural identity. Throughout, we worked hard to ensure the characters remained relatable. It was important to us that the audience could empathise with them, despite the unfamiliar world and circumstances in which the story takes place.
Visually, ARK is striking. How did you decide on the film’s look and feel?
Johann: While Die groot twis looked like a Pierneef painting in my head, this film felt more like a Mondrian. That might sound pretentious, but the idea was to use bold blocks of colour to create an almost clinical atmosphere, a visual mirror of the characters’ inner emotional world. The spaceship’s clean, linear design contributes to the tension in the characters’ relationship.
When I was younger, I watched Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours trilogy, and it had a profound impact on me. I wanted to make a film where colour plays a key role, and the three different worlds in ARK were the starting point. Hints throughout the film guide the viewer like “breadcrumbs” toward unlocking its mystery.
Cinematographer Jorrie van der Walt is a genius, undoubtedly one of the finest – not only in South Africa, but globally. Arlene Wentzel’s production design was also fantastic.
There are quite a few special effects used. How were they developed?
Johann: We did a lot of research beforehand to define the visual and conceptual environment of the film. The brilliant Loubser Claassen from Filmscape, Mashalane Mothiba from Lyrical VFX, and Charmaine Greyling from Strangelove Studios helped create our world. You essentially purchase a 3D environment, almost like a parallelogram, and then add textures and elements to shape your world.
Emma, this was your first experience as a producer. What were the challenges, learning curves and highlights?
It was one big learning curve! I happen to love spreadsheets, so that particular aspect of the job didn’t scare me. But it is daunting to realise how little you actually know about a medium you’ve already spent quite a bit of time with. Fortunately, our entire creative and production team was incredibly supportive, and they guided me patiently every step of the way.
I can honestly say that the biggest highlight was being repeatedly surprised by people’s generosity when they buy into a creative dream.
The music for ARK was composed by Charl-Johann Lingenfelder. It must be deeply satisfying when a story from your own pen gets such a unique score?
Johann: The music in ARK serves like a fourth, ever-present character that drives the emotion. Charl-Johann and I clicked immediately when we started discussing the film. We understand the language of music in a similar way. Like in the Three Colours trilogy, which feels like the collective outcry of a nation, the score has elements of melodrama, but also satire. Remember, it’s serious … but also not quite serious.
How did you decide on Ben Albertyn and Kristen Raath for the lead roles?
Johann: It was quite a journey finding the right actors. I know Ben well, but initially I was looking for someone with a different look. The actor we originally cast had a scheduling conflict, and Ben stepped in like a miracle just three days before we started filming. He’s a highly intelligent actor and brought more nuance to the character than I could have imagined as a writer.
I didn’t know Kristen personally, but I was familiar with her work, such as in Wyfie. We were looking for a very specific type of woman for the role – actually, a “girl.” And no, that’s not a Freudian slip. We needed someone young, with innocent eyes, but also strength. She blew us away.