The kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival is back in August 2023
Movie makers and film fanatics can dive into their year calendars to jot down the words “Silwerskerm Film Festival” on the following dates: 23 to 26 August. These are the days to set aside for kykNET’s prestigious local film festival, which will again be held at the Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, Cape Town.
While the 11th kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival will showcase several brand-new local full-length features, fifteen short films in different genres will also enjoy their local premieres. These short films in various Afrikaans dialects and genres have been produced by up-and-coming creatives with the funding and mentorship of the television channel kykNET and the festival.
An exciting addition to this year’s line-up is a collection of mini-documentaries which forms part of a festival development project in a genre that is becoming increasingly popular worldwide.
kykNET will share more details about the festival programme and how the public will have access to this glitzy and influential event at a later stage.
Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the production timelines of the previous batch of Silwerskerm films, the 10th kykNET anniversary festival took place in March 2022.
“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: Premium channels. “We look forward to hosting the festival in August again – the month festivalgoers have become accustomed to.”
The Silwerskerm Film Festival has been a success story of note. Previous feature and short films have raked in a long list of international awards, and many of today’s esteemed South African filmmakers entered the industry via the short film competition.
On Sunday, 12 February, at 21:00, kykNET (DStv channel 144) will screen a once-off documentary titled Agter die SIlwerskerm about the history and significance of the kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival. The doccie highlights how the festival has discovered and developed a new generation of filmmakers.
Festival founders Karen Meiring and Jan du Plessis share how the festival was brought to life in 2012 when the South African film industry was waning due to the lack of funding. Many producers, directors, writers and film crew whose careers catapulted because of the short film project talk about their journey under the festival’s wing.
Among these interviewees is 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 and filmmaking couple Corné and René van Rooyen who produced Vaselinetjie and Toorbos.
International star Arnold Vosloo, the festival’s patron, also reminisces about his first Silwerskerm Film Festival experience.