Fashioning Modern Africanism

  DAM S2  | Showmax Original | Thursdays from 16 February 2023 Created by four-time SAFTA winner Alex Yazbek, the twisty and twisted Showmax Original psychological thriller  DAM  was one of the 10 most-watched titles of 2021 on Showmax and the most nominated drama series at the 2022 SAFTAs, earning rave reviews for breaking the mould of South African TV.  Season 2 is set three months after the Spring Festival. The cult’s ritual sacrifice seems to have worked: rain has come and transformed the land. Yola has no memory of anything since her return for her father’s funeral. Can she put the missing pieces together as diamonds are discovered, a mass grave uncovered and a monster surfaces in the dam? Lea Vivier and Pallance Dladla return in their SAFTA-nominated roles as Yola and Themba, with Natasha Loring reprising her SAFTA-winning role as Yola’s sister, Sienna. Made in partnership with Picture Tree, the Showmax Original also won Best Art Direction for Sue Steele at the 2022 SAFTAs SUPERW

As Halloween is approaching, Showmax announced a locally produced horror film Gaia will be available for streaming on Showmax as of the 31st October 2022. The breakout South African horror film won director of photography Jorrie van der Walt the 2021 Zeiss Cinematography Award at South by Southwest (SXSW) - widely considered one of the five most prestigious film festivals globally.  Gaia  follows an injured forest ranger on a routine mission (SAFTA nominee Monique Rockman from  Nommer 37 ) who is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists (Silwerskerm winner Carel Nel from  4 Mure  and SAFTA nominee Alex van Dyk from  Die Stropers ). But what starts out as a welcome rescue grows more suspicious as the son and his renegade father reveal a cultish devotion to the forest. When their cabin is attacked by a strange being, it’s clear there is a far greater threat in this unrelenting wilderness.   Set in the Tsitsikamma National Park,  Gaia  won Best Film, Director, Editor, Sound Design and Hair

Umakoti Wethu  is now streaming first on Showmax, just in time for Heritage Day. SAFTA and Africa Movie Academy Award Best Actress winner Fulu Mugovhani gives another prize-worthy performance as Khathu, a Venda woman struggling to conceive, who finds herself in crisis when her Zulu husband's new job takes them back to KwaZulu-Natal, his overbearing mother, and his old flame.   SAFTA nominee Melusi Mbele ( Isibaya ) co-stars as her husband Sizwe, with rising star Kwanele Mthethwa ( Isithembiso, Abomama S2 ) delivering a breakthrough performance as Nobuhle, the woman caught in the middle of this love triangle with a twist. Duduzile Ngcobo ( Durban Gen ,  eHostela ,  Uzalo ) also features as Khathu’s disapproving mother-in-law.  “Umakoti Wethu  is about family matters,” says Fulu ,  who’s acted in everything from  Ayanda  to  Happiness Is A Four-Letter Word, One Night Kwa Mxolisi  to  Seriously Single ,  Ring of Lies  to  Still Breathing.  “It follows a couple who are going through a