This year’s 12th Silwerskerm film festival lineup is all about the laughs! Four out of the six films are comedies guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. But if you’re looking for something different, there are also two powerful dramas and a thrilling nail-biter that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Die dekonstruksie van Retta Blom is based on Zelda Bezuidenhout’s debut chick-lit novel. Henriëtta Gryffenberg adapted it for the big screen. This “deconstruction” drama offers a glimpse into the life of Retta (Antoinette Louw), a housewife who had been content for many years with her role as a mother of two boys, and as a wife to Tobias.

Annelize Frost makes her feature film directorial debut with the Showmax Original romcom Gebokste Liefde. Devil’s Peak’s Tarryn Wyngaard stars opposite Roché Killian and Jandré le Roux as divorced single mom, Suma-Lee. When she’s fired from her job as a fashion designer, she joins a boxing gym and finally finds the courage to stand up for herself and fight for what she wants.

Stiaan Smith returns in 2024 as screenwriter and director of the Showmax Original murder mystery, Die Bloedhonde, about a family holiday that’s cut short by an unexplained death at a resort. Toorbos co-star Elani Dekker takes on the lead role as Katrien opposite Waldemar Schultz, Anrich Herbst and the legendary Tobie Cronjé as a local dominee.

Som van twee, another comedy, sees Hotel actress Simoné Pretorius behind the camera as both director and screenwriter. Louw Venter portrays Henk, a psychologist whose funeral confession results in a dramatic domino effect of comical adventures. The movie’s star-studded cast includes: James Borthwick, Greteli de Swardt, Righard van Jaarsveld, Pierre Breytenbach and Adriaan Havenga.

Jordy Sank brings an ensemble of doyennes including: Lida Botha, June van Merch, Susanne Beyers and Theresa Sedras together in Die Kwiksilwers. A widow in her eighties whose three friends convince her to join them on a hilarious road trip through the Karoo to experience a meteoric shower in Sutherland.

Screenwriter and director, Quanita Adams also stars in the drama Hier.Na, which tells the story of an open-minded family who have to navigate the conflicts and undercurrents of many years in one single stormy day to arrange a Muslim funeral before sunset. Quanita portrays “non-practising Muslim” Juleigha opposite David Isaacs, Shiefaa Hendricks, Lyle
October and June van Merch.

Jaco Bouwer’s horror film Breathing In is set during the Anglo Boer War and journeys with a gravely wounded Boer general who is nursed by a mysterious traditional healer and her daughter, who must face a far greater danger than the English soldiers.