Cape Town - Like so many success stories it started small.
The dream at the first kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival in 2010 was to give young film-makers a chance to develop their talent and for masters of the craft to share their knowledge.
And it happened. Since 2010 more than 160 short and feature films have been produced. Young talents then are now, nine years later, established directors, screen writers and producers. Ideas where the seeds were planted at the festival, conversations between role players and exposure to experience, has breathed new life into the film industry with some getting international recognition.
The kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival in 2019 will again bring together leading and new creative voices at the four-day festival that is, as always, a celebration of indigenous stories and film making.
Apart from the short films and the feature films that will debut at the festival, films that caught attention at other local film festivals will also be screened. This includes documentary films on a wide range of topics.
Workshops:
Workshops will be held in conjunction with Wesgro and topics under discussion include financing and getting an international release for your film.
There will be a focus on digital film-making with Peter Cowley, the British producer of the series Tabloids: The Animated Web Series (2018), that will share his knowledge.
The local digital element is represented with four web episodes, that were part of the short film competion this year, that will be screened on kykNET’s web page on 21 August that will give viewers a chance to vote for their favourite.
Another international guest at the festival is Dorothee Wenner. Dorothee is a German film maker from Berlin and has been involved in the Berlinale for the past 20 years, also as the representative for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Arnold Vosloo, the South African born actor based in Los Angeles and who starred in blockbusters such as The Mummy, is at the festival for the première of Griekwastad, the film about the family murder that shocked the country and in which he plays the lead.
The Theatre on the Bay is part of the festival this year and members of the public can attend screenings there. Tickets are available from Computicket from 2 August. There will also be a special screening of Fiela se Kind at the Labia in Cape Town. Tickets are available at the Labia.
Feature films in competition are:
Fiela se kind
Flatland
Griekwastad
Poppie Nongena
Racheltjie de Beer
Toorbos
Short films in competition are:
Binnelandse Sake
Die begrafnis
Gebles
Hoe om ’n perd te teken
Janneman
Lakens
Miemie
Die gelykenis
Oedipus: Die musical
Rooilug
Sussie
Swaaibraai
Van nasionale belang
Vinnie + Olga
Digital web episodes:
Afrikaans 101
Deur die blare
Fliektyd
Groener
Other films at the festival are:
Existing films:
Exorcist of Apartheid
Far from the Castle
Porselein
Documentary films:
Billy Monk – A Shot in the Dark
Buddha in Africa
Dalene
Goldblatt
Liyana
Sisters of the Wilderness
Skeef
Stroop
The Colour of Wine
The Fun’s Not Over
The Space: Theatre of Survival
Whispering Truth to Power
Feature films not in competition:
Bhai’s Café
Freedom
Knuckle City
kykNET and Vrystaat Arts Festival’s Lo-def short film development project as well as student films from AFDA and City Varsity and Openroom.