SA's king of true crime on his new Stella Murders' documentary

SA's king of true crime on his new Stella Murders' documentaryFeature-length Showmax documentary Stella Murders' investigates the deaths of best friends Sharnelle Hough and Marna Engelbrecht.

by Nokuthula Ngcobo

19-03-2023 21:39

in Entertainment

Showmax Original documentary Stella Murders'. Image Supplied

David Enright established himself as South Africa's king of true crime with Devilsdorp, the smash-hit documentary series that was one of Showmax's 10 most streamed titles of 2021, sold internationally and won the 2022 SAFTA for Best Made for TV Documentary.

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ABOUT THE DOCCIE His second true-crime documentary, Stella Murders, releases this Friday, 17 March 2023. The feature-length Showmax Original documentary investigates the deaths of best friends Sharnelle Hough (17) and Marna Engelbrecht (16) at their hostel at Stella High School in North West. On Saturday morning, 26 May 2018, Sharnelle is found hanged by the staircase and Marna is discovered in a bathroom. Is it a double suicide or a murder?

David was also head of content on Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts, which became available to binge on Showmax at the start of March 2023.

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DAVID ON STELLA MURDERS' What attracted you to Stella Murders? Why did you want to direct this documentary?

I had to give that a lot of thought. The initial pitch was from the perspective of the accused and involved investigating some conspiracy theories, but the research showed none of those held water. So when IdeaCandy brought me on board, I said, Okay cool, but we have to reevaluate.' There is a lot of intrigue in the story, but we focused on capturing the emotion and impact rather than lots of sensational twists like in Devilsdorp. To allow Stella Murders to hold value and deliver on intrigue, we needed to step out of the usual true crime recipe, so credit to Showmax and IdeaCandy for giving me the support to do it ethically and respectfully, rather than looking for sensationalism.

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How hard is it to convince people who've been through something this traumatic to appear in a documentary?

It is really difficult. At one stage, someone put one of the letters we'd written on Facebook saying, Can this just stop?' With my name and personal phone number. And then someone else came back to say they didn't agree with making a documentary, because it's slimy to tell a story like this for commercial gain. That makes you ask: Am I just doing this as a job, for commercial gain?' So we had some heavy discussions. It became important for me to prove the doubters wrong.

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Why do you think the Stella Murders case resonated across South Africa?

Unfortunately, two teenage girls being murdered isn't unique in South Africa, but this happened in a small town, where there is a strong perception of safety, and at the school hostel, a place where parents expect their children to be safe. I think that's part of what makes it so shocking.

Why should South Africans watch Stella Murders?

Stella Murders is in some ways a portrait of grief and community. The trauma that these families experienced firsthand is a microcosm of what South Africa is also experiencing. We often neglect to allow ourselves to grieve. The irony is that when we allow ourselves to fully experience our emotions and work through them, we lessen the grip they hold on us. There is a catharsis of some kind. That's what I hope Stella Murders can facilitate for the audience. A good cry usually helps, and I think most South Africans need a good cry right now.

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LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/entertainment/true-crime-stell...
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