Welcome

The kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival is an esteemed South African and Afrikaans film and content festival that has nurtured, developed and empowered the local industry for the past 12 years. It has proven to be a seminal platform for seasoned and emerging filmmakers alike. Alongside the world or South African premieres of the latest feature films, the Silwerskerm Festival showcases the work of young talent with a diverse series of short films produced with the festival’s financial backing and mentorship. The packed festival line-up includes panel discussions, workshops and industry-focused master classes presented by renowned local and international experts. The coveted Silwerskerm Awards for Film and Television honours outstanding achievements. Two new festival initiatives in 2024, are the Shotgun Shorts and the expansion of Silwermark. The Shotgun Shorts are short films by seasoned filmmakers aiming to move audiences and inspire upcoming talent. The Silwermark provides the opportunity for in-person pitching sessions at the festival in a variety of Afrikaans content categories for both kykNET and Showmax. Since the beginning of human history, stories have been crucial for sense-making. And the Silwerskerm Festival in Camps Bay is all about embracing and celebrating original South African stories.

We are committed to these objectives:

• The growth of the South African film and TV industry

• Audience development

• Training and mentoring

• Promotion of local content, nationally and internationally

• Social cohesion and healthy discourse

Please enjoy the festival, the stories and all that the beautiful Camps Bay has to offer with us.

-Tina Kruger, Programme Manager: kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival

Silwerskerm initiatives

SILWERMARK

Every year, filmmakers in various video entertainment genres have the opportunity to submit a concept proposal in a specific category. Submissions are selected for an in-person pitching session to a panel of commissioning decision makers at the festival. The selection process is driven by the M-Net Content Hub Commissioning Editors representing the various categories.

Concepts for new television or streaming shows must fit into either of the following categories and adhere to a 70% Afrikaans dialogue prerequisite:

1. kykNET Drama
2. kykNET Reality & Entertainment
3. kyKNET Documentary
4. Afrikaans Feature Films
5. Showmax Wild Card Category
6. kykNET Advertiser Funded Programmes (AFP)

The kykNET AFP Category closes for submissions 5 July.

SHORT FILM PROJECT – Rising Filmmakers

The Silwerskerm Short Film Project grants rising filmmakers the opportunity to develop and produce short films with the financial backing and mentorship of the festival. This initiative has offered a platform to numerous now well-known filmmakers to enter and establish themselves in the industry. The project has grown exponentially over the last couple of years and has branched out into various significant short film categories.

SHORT FILM PROJECT – Established Filmmakers

The Shotgun Short Project debuts at the festival this year, offering established filmmakers funding and a platform to showcase their craft at the festival.  A condition for this category is henceforth that the filmmakers mentor a less experienced technical HOD and cast a newcomer.

SHORT DOCUMENTARY PROJECT – Rising Filmmakers

The Silwerskerm Short Documentary Project enables fresh filmmakers to develop and produce documentaries of no longer than half an hour, telling real-life stories. This project has grown exponentially, enabling an entire new genre to find footing in the festival landscape, with award categories celebrating outstanding achievements.

SHORT DOCUMENTARY PROJECT – Established filmmakers

This year, entries opened for more established filmmakers working in the documentary field to enter concepts for selection, funding and showcasing at the Silwerskerm Festival in 2025. The first successful cohort of this exclusive category will be announced at the Silwerskerm Awards for Film and Television @ The Bay Hotel this year.

FEATURE FILMS

Original screenplays and book adaptations have thrilled Silwerskerm audiences over the past twelve years in the prolific landscape of full-length feature films. As an annual highlight of the festival, strong, experienced producers and directors guide teams of skilled crew and cast to create full feature experiences in a variety of film genres focusing on authentic South African stories. These premieres showcase the cream of the local industry.

TELEVISION AND STREAMER CONTENT

Since 2023, the Silwerskermfees programme line-up started to include sneak peeks of television and streamer content as a vibrant addition to the festival. This means the Afrikaans film content landscape is now hosted, stimulated and celebrated in its entirety at the unique networking opportunity the festival offers. Feature-length documentaries, pilot episodes of drama series and reality and entertainment shows are screened, and these storytellers enjoy the glitz and glamour of the festival alongside their filmmaking counterparts.

kykNET SILWERSKERM AWARDS FOR FILM AND TELEVISION

The Silwerskerm Awards for Film and Television have branched out into two prestigious prize-giving events honouring outstanding achievements, both behind and in front of the camera, in 50 award categories. The events are respectively hosted at The Bay Hotel and the CTICC on Saturday 31 August, and the glamorous evening awards ceremony is to be broadcast on kykNET.

Judges

Rafiek Mammon has a master’s degree in Educational Philosophy from Stellenbosch University. Mammon is the former arts editor of the Cape Times as well as a former Fleur du Cap Theater Awards judge. He serves on various panels as a judge and also as a text reader for several festivals around the country. Rafiek is an award-winning playwright, currently involved in various theater development projects. He also enjoys directing plays. Mammon was a lecturer in the Journalism Department at CPUT for several years and lectured at the University of Cape Town for four years. He currently teaches at Stellenbosch University and works as a freelance playwright, consultant and reviewer.

Leon van Nierop is an award-winning author, TV presenter, reviewer, director, film researcher, producer and lecturer. He has been in the industry for 48 years, and initially distinguished himself as a presenter for the SABC. He writes reviews for various platforms and wrote the scripts for Ballade vir ’n enkeling and Wolwedans in die skemer. He presented film analysis at the Pretoria Technikon for 20 years, and was head of the Film Academy at TUT for four years. He was full professor of film at the university. Leon has written 37 novels, as well as four academic books, including Movies Made Easy, Druk speel and Seeing Sense: On Film Analysis. Also Daar doer in die fliek, both an encyclopedic film guide and documentary TV series for kykNET. He recently adapted Het van Verlangekraal into a modern novel and is currently writing Op die oog af – a radio drama for RSG set in a school for the blind, which he is also directing.

Kaye Ann Williams graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor’s degree in Film Production and Media studies. She started out in the industry as a screenwriter, producer and story creator for 10+ years before joining the Content Hub at MultiChoice as a Commissioning Editor. She was then promoted to the Head of Local Productions, Independent Films and International Co-productions. Thereafter she joined the Prime Video & Amazon Studios team as the Head of Scripted Series and Movies in South Africa. She is now with Primedia Studios as Vice President: Content. Kaye Ann is an experienced story-liner, scriptwriter and script editor but also enjoys the facilitation of the creative process through dynamic writers rooms. She is highly experienced in broadcasting and producing and therefore understands the demands of both those aspects of the creative process. Kaye Ann is passionate about story-telling, story ideation and nurturing collaboration within those spaces.

Nico Scheepers is a writer, director and playwright from Cape Town. As a writer-director, Nico has two TV series to his name: the multi-award-winning family saga Nêrens, Noord-Kaap and the crime thriller Donkerbos. The latter was the only African series selected for the Berlinale Series Market 2023. His fantasy short film Die maan val bewusteloos won the award for Best Director at the 2017 Silwerskerm Film Festival. He is currently working on two new series and the development of his first feature film. As a playwright, Nico’s work has been published in South Africa, performed at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, and at Aan De Braak in Amsterdam. He has won five Fiesta Awards and received the Fleur Du Cap Award for Best New Director in 2018. In 2023, Nico received the Safta for Best Director for Donkerbos, as well as the South African Academy for Science and Art’s Deleen Bekker Prize for Best TV Screenplay.