December highlights on Showmax include:
- Tali’s Wedding Diary, the first Showmax Original
- Africa Movie Academy Award winners Tell Me Sweet Something and How To Steal 2 Million
- South African Oscar entry Four Corners
There’s a wealth of local and lekker South African content coming to Showmax this December, from the first Showmax Original to box office hits and award-winning films. These include:
Tell Me Sweet Something (due 04/12)
Moratiwa (Nomzamo Mbatha) runs her bookstore with ambitions of being a writer. Then she meets Nat (Maps Maponyane), a model who wants to be loved for his mind not body. But are they meant for each other? Directed by Akin Omotoso (Vaya), Tell Me Sweet Something won two Africa Movie Academy Awards: Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Thishiwe Ziqubu, as well as two Africa Magic Viewers Choice awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography.
Liefling (due 04/12)
Jan (Bobby van Jaarsveld) has his eye on the life-loving Liefling (Lika Berning), but fate, jealous exes and many songs all conspire to keep them apart. Liefling set box office records for an Afrikaans film on its release and earned a Special Mention at the SAFTAs for re-introducing South African audiences to local musicals.
How To Steal 2 Million (due 04/12)
Released from prison, Jack (Menzi Ngubane) can’t find work. His former buddy Twala (Rapulana Seiphemo) offers him a job he can’t refuse, but can he trust his new partners in crime? Winner of four Africa Movie Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Charlie Vundla) and Best Supporting Actress (Terry Pheto).
Trouvoete (due 04/12)
Ella (two-time Fleur du Cap winner Erica Wessels) is smart, successful and creative, but her relationships are not as lucky. Louis (Bouwer Bosch) is a doctor with the same problem. Then they become online friends. But can it be more? Billed as South Africa’s first Christmas film, Trouvoute is directed by Darrell Roodt (the Oscar-nominated Yesterday).
Binnelanders (S12 due 04/12)
The Binneland Clinic in Pretoria is the backdrop for this local soapie that tells the stories of the medical professionals who save their patients’ lives and do whatever they can to heal their hurts. Winner of the Most Popular Soapie public vote at the first Royalty Soapie Awards.
Four Corners (due 11/12)
Ricardo (Jezriel Skei in a SAFTA-winning role) is stuck in the ghetto. His chess talent can save him but he’s being groomed to join a gang… South Africa’s official Oscar entry, Four Corners won eight international awards, including the SAFTA for Best Film.
Wonderboy For President (due 11/12)
A charming young man from the Eastern Cape (Kagiso Lediga) is convinced to run for president by two dodgy characters. But when politics is involved, a scandal isn’t far behind. The mockumentary stars top South African comedians like Loyiso Gola, John Vlismas and David Kibuuka alongside political leaders like President Jacob Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa and Julius Malema.
Tali’s Wedding Diary (due 14/12)
Tali’s Wedding Diary follows a self-obsessed Sandton princess (Julia Anastasopoulos, aka YouTube sensation SuzelleDIY) who’s moved to Cape Town and is filming the build-up to her wedding to her property-agent fiance Darren (Anton Taylor, star of the popular web series Jozi Shore and the award-winning short Money, Keys, Phone). Binge-watch all eight episodes of this Showmax Original comedy from 14 December 2017.
African links
South African screenwriter Shawn Slovo (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin) won the Writers Guild of America award for her screenplay for Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, now on Showmax. When Muhammad Ali refused to join the draft for the Vietnam War, he stepped into the ring with his biggest opponent ever: the United States government. Starring Oscar-winner Christopher Plummer (A Beautiful Mind), Oscar-nominee Frank Langhella (Frost/Nixon), and four-time Emmy nominee Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight was nominated for Emmys for Outstanding TV Movie and Direction (Oscar-nominee Stephen Frears of The Queen fame).
It’s predator versus prey in The Hunt, a stunning nature series partly shot in multiple African countries, narrated by Sir David Attenborough and produced by the team that created Planet Earth. Winner of BAFTAs for Music and Cinematography; 9.3 rating on IMDB; due 07/12.
