New Afrikaans-language cinemas

• Published in: Tydskrif vir letterkunde Vol. 60; no. 1; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Author: Broodryk, Chris
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pretoria Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association 01-01-2023
• Subjects: Aesthetics; African cinema; Afrikaans language; Apartheid; Audiences; Comedies; Film adaptations; Film history; Film theory; Gender; Globalization; LGBTQ literature; Literary characters; Motion picture directors & producers; Motion pictures; Novels; Science fiction & fantasy; Stereotypes; Theaters & cinemas; Thrillers; South Africa; Robben Island; Africa
• ISSN: 0041-476X; 2309-9070
• DOI: 10.17159/tl.v60i1.15918

The variation and difference that Tomaselli refers to above also apply to the context of the smaller, yet dynamic, Afrikaans-language film industry, which has increasingly shed a historically dominant conservatism (of politics, gender and sex) in favour of more progressive approaches to and representations of being and living in South Africa. Consider this limited sample of Afrikaans-language films from 2016 to 2020: the crime drama Noem my Skollie (2016); the historical drama Krotoa (2017), with its critical lens on South Africans history and race; the social realism of Tess (2017); the queer dynamics of Kanarie (2018), Die stropers (2019) and Moffie (2019); the celebration of individual liberation and actualisation in Wonderlus (2018); the politically incisive science-fiction Wesens (2020) with its emphasis on emergent technology in place and mythmaking. Martin Botha takes Lipstiek dipstiek to task for its flamboyant stereotypes, while Kaalgat tussen die daisies in the end complete nullifies its gay representation when it is revealed that a major gay character was an undercover policeman pretending to be a drag queen during an official police investigation (Botha 5). In 2020, only two major Afrikaans feature films made it to commercial and established art-house cinema screens due to COVID-19 necessitated lockdowns and restrictions: the period drama Toorbos, based on the novel by Dalene Matthee, and the light romantic drama Verged, my nie.