DStv’s popular movie rental service, BoxOffice, is making history with its first-ever exclusive release of a local film. The new chick flick Droomdag, produced under the kyKNET Film banner, will premiere on BoxOffice on Monday, 24 April instead of following the normal distribution path from cinema to rental to TV.
Droomdag is the brainchild of legendary actor, screen writer and film and television producer Willie Esterhuizen, known for mass appeal sitcoms like Vetkoekpaleis, Orkney Snork Nie and Molly and Wors and several raucous comedies including Lipstiek Dipstiek, Poena is Koning and Stoute Boudjies.
While there are traces of Willie’s trademark style in the movie, Droomdag is a romantic film that’s unapologetically aimed at a female audience. It tells the story of Tanya Stark, a beautiful young woman with some hang-ups about her body who always falls for the wrong man. Then, when she least expects it, she gets a taste of true love. But how long will happiness last?
Willie decided to go the “chick flick” route after his daughters questioned his affinity for creating shallow “men behaving badly” movies. “I told them that I’m up for the challenge to write a film with female leads,” he explains. And that’s not all! The lead role would stretch the actress and give her the opportunity to move between comedy and tragedy and everything in between. If you can believe my wife and daughter, Droomdag lived up to the expectation. In fact, they were surprised that I knew so much about the female psyche and will be watching me now!”
Juanita de Villiers is the leading lady who is stretching her acting muscles in the role of Tanya Stark. The film also stars seasoned actresses Natania van Heerden and Sharleen Surtie-Richards, as well as a bevy of girls including Greta Keet, Maki Mokitli, Keyuri Naidoo, Adriana Faling and Leandry Smith.
Soapie star Marcus Miller from Egoli and Villa Rosa fame is the guy who sweeps Droomdag’s heroine off her feet and another familiar television face Kaz McFadden is her best friend Nolan. Also keep an eye out for Thiart Li, also known as former Idols SA contestant Shenay. Some of the other parts are played by Neels Clasen and Dambuza Nqumashe.
“We’re honoured to premiere Droomdag exclusively on our BoxOffice service,” says Aletta Alberts, General Manager for Content for MultiChoice. “In the past year Afrikaans local films have performed exceptionally well on our BoxOffice service and the overwhelming number of rentals of films such as Vir Altyd, Vir die Voëls and As Jy Sing indicate that our customers love romantic dramas and comedy with a strong South African flavour.”
Droomdag was produced by Westel Films, the production company of Willie and Pieter Esterhuizen, with the assistance of M-Net and kykNET Films.
DStv customers can rent Droomdag on BoxOffice from Monday, 24 April – either online or through their PVRs. The movie is available to non-DStv customers through BoxOffice online.
