Silwerskermfees 2018: Catching Up With Zander De Beer

Day two of Silwerskermfees 2018 kicked off with a bang, as the sun decided to show up, illuminating an already gorgeous Camps Bay.

We caught up with Zander De Beer, star of the short film, ‘Skrywers Anoniem’, and asked him about his experience at Silwerkskerm, and what this platform means for the Afrikaans film scene.

How did you get involved with ‘Skrywers Anoniem’ and what was the process of making the film like?

‘Skrywers Anoniem’ was a passion project of Corné Koegelenberg, the writer and director of the film. When he wrote the script, he envisioned me in the role of Philip, and subsequently presented me with the script and asked me if I would be interested. The rest is history!

The shooting process was wonderful, very relaxed and comfortable. We had a fantastic team with us. It was wonderful to work with people who are as invested in the project as you are. All of the people on the team were prepared and professional, which definitely made the shooting process that much more enjoyable.

Zander, who is based in Pretoria, studied at AFDA in Johannesburg and has been in the industry for 10 years. It is his first time at Silwerskermfees and we asked him what he thinks of the festival thus far.

Zander De Beer at Silwerskermfees 2018

It’s your first time at Silwerskermfees. How have you experienced the festival thus far?

It’s very lekker. It’s lovely to mingle with people from the industry and to connect with them. The Gauteng industry and Cape Town industry don’t get together often, so it’s nice to be able to connect the two with each other at an event like this. It’s cool to meet and chat with people that you may know, but have not necessarily met in person before.

What do you think makes Silwerskermfees so special?

It’s a very important platform to have, especially in the Afrikaans film and television scene. The niche of making and showing short films is definitely needed in the industry. It’s like planting small seeds and watching it grow and allowing people to experiment.

We know it’s only day two, but what has been some of the stand-out short films you have seen thus far?

Some of the stand-out short films I’ve seen so far has definitely been ‘Kloof’ (written and directed by Gerhard Pretorius), ‘Grys’ (directed by Pierre-Arnold Theron) and ‘Uitstappie’ (directed by SW Strauss and starring Annelisa Weiland and Greta Pietersen) – the latter being my favourite thus far.

Thanks to kykNet and Village n Life, several guests are staying at some of VNL’s properties in and around Camps Bay. Zander and his party are staying at Camps Bay Village for the remainder of the festival and said that they are thoroughly enjoying their stay. Having a mini break in Cape Town is always lovely!

What are you going to do with the rest of your time here in Cape Town?

Watch more films, mingle a little more and soak up more of Cape Town. It’s always nice to kuier in Cape Town, so definitely looking forward to our time here.

You can check out the trailer for ‘Skrywers Anoniem’ below. All short films making their debut at Silwerskermfees 2018 will be made available on Showmax in November.