{"id":17327,"date":"2022-10-24T17:37:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T15:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=17327"},"modified":"2022-10-24T17:37:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T15:37:07","slug":"terror-in-tsitsikamma-gaia-brings-halloween-closer-to-home-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2022\/10\/24\/terror-in-tsitsikamma-gaia-brings-halloween-closer-to-home-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Terror in Tsitsikamma: “Gaia” Brings Halloween Closer To Home This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gaia<\/a><\/em> debuts on Showmax this Halloween, 31 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Gaia<\/em> follows an injured forest ranger on a routine mission (SAFTA nominee Monique Rockman from Nommer 37<\/em>) who is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists (Silwerskerm winner Carel Nel from 4 Mure<\/em> and SAFTA nominee Alex van Dyk from Die Stropers<\/em>). 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\u2019s clear there is a far greater threat in this unrelenting wilderness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in the Tsitsikamma National Park, Gaia<\/em> won Best Film, Director, Editor, Sound Design and Hair and Make Up at Silwerskerm, as well as Best International Film at Trieste Science + Fiction Festival, among other accolades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaia<\/em> was released in cinemas, on Hulu and via video on demand in North America last year by Decal, a joint venture between Neon and Bleecker Street. The ecological horror has a 85% critics\u2019 rating on Rotten Tomatoes<\/em>, with Decider<\/em> hailing it as \u201ca standout at South By Southwest\u201d and describing the film as a \u201cpsychedelic-mushroom Cronenberg-via-del-Toro eco-body-horror creepy-creature freakout \u2026 visually potent \u2026 strange, beautiful and disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaia<\/em> is a breakthrough for director Jaco Bouwer, who was up for Best Director and won Best TV Drama at the 2022 SAFTAs for 4 Mure<\/em>, a five-part kykNET series set in the same hotel room, but with different stories in different genres each episode. 4 Mure<\/em> is now available to binge on Showmax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variety<\/em> even likened Gaia<\/em> to another South African film that made waves internationally, District 9<\/em>. \u201cAs a stylistic calling card for Bouwer, it portends bigger things and bigger budgets, showcasing a quivery facility with atmosphere and crafty technical nous that recalls his compatriot Neill Blomkamp at the outset of his career.\u201d Variety<\/em> went on to include Gaia<\/em> in their roundup of the Best Horror Movies of 2021, calling it \u201cthe most down-and-dirty entry into the year\u2019s dense \u2018Don\u2019t mess with Mother Nature\u2019 canon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bouwer is currently helming Spinners<\/em>, a Showmax co-production with CANAL+, which will launch in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week into filming Gaia<\/em>, production was halted due to the outbreak of Covid. They only resumed shooting three months later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuddenly what was fiction became a strange form of reality and our pre-apocalyptic film started to resonate more with cast and crew,\u201d says Bouwer. \u201cWe experience a searing grief and horror when the collapse flickers into view\u2026 I don\u2019t think the performances in Gaia <\/em>would\u2019ve had the same emotional undercurrent if it wasn\u2019t for the pandemic and its interruption into our work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sense of fear and uncertainty has resonated around the world, helping Gaia<\/em> making Best Horror of 2021 lists everywhere from IGN<\/em> to Rotten Tomatoes <\/em>to Thrillist<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommending Gaia<\/em> for fans of Jeff VanderMeer\u2019s Southern Reach<\/em> trilogy and its Annihilation<\/em> adaptation, Austin Chronicle<\/em> calls Gaia <\/em>\u201ca masterpiece of socially aware eco-horror.\u201d Mashable India<\/em> hails it as \u201ca visual masterpiece\u2026 A taut thriller\u2026 Unlike anything I\u2019ve seen before\u2026 A must-watch.\u201d And \/Film <\/em>hails it as \u201cskin-crawling\u201d, \u201cdazzling\u201d and \u201ca welcome addition to the environmental horror canon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RogerEbert.com<\/em> calls Gaia <\/em>\u201ca trip and a half\u2026\u201d adding, “Gaia<\/em> has a lot to say about humanity’s destruction of the environment, about the \u2018tipping point\u2019 we have collectively reached\u2026 but the film says it with creativity, mad flights of imagination, and even humour\u2026 It’s a thought-provoking and disturbing experience\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrating Gaia<\/em> as one of the top 10 horror films of 2021, Forbes<\/em> says, \u201cGaia<\/em> boasts strong performances, a massive menace with a big impact, and incredible tension throughout. The realization of the threat in question, namely its effects on human bodies, is one of the most haunting images of the year in ANY horror entry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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