9 August, 2018 - 08:01
Thursday, 9 August 2018 is Women's Day in South Africa, when we commemorate the 1956 march of approximately 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's Apartheid pass laws. We've curated six South African classics just released on Showmax that capture the courage of South African woman - and the issues they still face.
Sink
Premise: Rachel, a Mozambican domestic worker living in Johannesburg, is forced to make a life-changing decision after her daughter dies while under the care of her employers: return to poverty-stricken Mozambique or continue working for the people responsible for the death of her child. Things become even more complicated when she finds out that her employers are expecting their first child.
Why you should watch: As Theresa Smith wrote, it's an uncomfortably close look at the smothering maid/madam relationship as it plays out in so many South African homes. It tracks the relationship between these two women who live in each other's space, know each other's intimate details, but have a very uneven power dynamic. It makes you question your own relationships long after the flickering images are gone from your retina.
Accolades: Sink won five SAFTAs last year, including Best Film, Best Actress (Shoki Mokgapa), Best Script (Brett Michael Innes), Best Edit (Brett Michael Innes and Nicholas Costaras) and Best Score (Chris Letcher). Sink also won five Silwerskerm awards: Best Actress, Best Script, Best Editor, Best Score and Best Cinematography (Trevor Calverley).
Trailer: https://youtu.be/QqFSK_n7mZc
Dis Ek, Anna
Premise: Based on a true story told in an award-winning book of the same name, Dis Ek, Anna is a courtroom drama about the case of a woman who killed her stepfather after suffering years of sexual abuse.
Why you should watch: Because 109.1 rapes were recorded each day in 2016/2017 - and that's just what was reported. Because children are the victims of 41% of reported rapes.
Accolades: Dis Ek, Anna won six SAFTAs, including Best Film, Best Director (Sara Blecher), Best Supporting Actor (Marius Weyers), and Best Screenplay (Tertius Kapp). It also won Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor (Morn Visser) at Silwerskermfees.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/w92F2NBHiyM
Tess
Premise: Sassy 20-year-old Tess sells her body on Cape Town's streets. She survives by popping painkillers and through her wry humour. But her life turns upside down when she falls pregnant.
Why you should watch: 1. Director Meg Rickards coaxed an award-winning performance from rising star Christia Visser in the title role 2. It's set in Muizenberg, which really doesn't feature in enough films. 3. It's based on Tracey Farren's acclaimed novel Whiplash - and Farren wrote the SAFTA-nominated script.
Accolades: Best South African Film, Best Actress and Best Editing (Linda Man) at Durban. Best Actress, Best Editing and Best Cinematography (Bert Haitsma) at Silwerskerm. Best Actress and Best Screenplay nominations at the SAFTAs.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/Sr5sK0PQYlY
Elelwani
Premise: After her University graduation, Elelwani (Florence Masebe) returns to her rural family to introduce her boyfriend and announce their plans to emigrate and spend the rest of their lives together, but her father has promised her to the local king instead.
Why you should watch: 1. It's billed as the first Venda feature film. 2. Tsotsi cinematographer Lance Gewer captures the glorious green backdrop of the Thohoyandou area of Limpopo. 3. It's written and directed by Ntshavheni Wa Luruli (Berlin-winner The Wooden Camera), who captures the urban-rural tensions so many South Africans live with.
Accolades: Florence Masebe won Best Actress at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, where Elelwani also took home Best Production Design from its 11 nominations.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbErhA8k_4U
Little One
Premise: A six-year-old girl is left for dead outside a township in Johannesburg but is found by a woman (Lindiwe Ndlovu) who takes her to hospital and then oversees her recovery.
Why you should watch: Darrell Roodt's film Little One is a poignant, moving, and minimalist narrative which is unapologetically South African, said the South African Academy Award Selection Committee, who chose Little One as our 2013 Foreign Film Oscar entry. It is a universal story made local, with brilliant performances.
Accolades: Lindiwe Ndlovu won the Best Actress SAFTA for her role.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/Yt_lI1dMWlg
Get More Film Business South Africa
Select your Membership
u-Carmen eKhayelitsha
Premise: In this update of George Bizet's classic opera, Carmen, Pauline Malefane plays a township woman who will not be tamed, who seduces a religious policeman into a fatal affair.
Why you should watch: 1. It's one of the world's great operas, in Xhosa, in a township. 2. The New York Times hailed it as brilliantly acted and praised the the decision to cast two leads with actors who aren't svelte, then insist upon their sexiness.
Accolades: u-Carmen eKhayelitsha became the first South African film to win the Golden Bear at Berlin - the top award at one of the world's top film festivals. It has a 95% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Village Voice saying that the adaptation was basically the best decision ever.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/119117735
Check out everything coming to Showmax in August at https://blog.showmax.com/everything-coming-to-showmax-sa-in-august/
About Showmax
Showmax is an internet TV service. For a single monthly fee, get all-you-can-eat access to a huge online catalogue of TV shows, movies, kids' shows and documentaries. Start and stop when you want. No ads. Cancel anytime - there's no contract.
Stream Showmax using apps for
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
9 August, 2018 - 08:01 
