Dark mystery is ‘relatable’
IT WAS a long, dark journey for the writer and director of South Africa’s latest murder mystery series, Donkerbos, but Nico Scheepers is finally ready to release his masterpiece.
“I think the viewing public is ready and waiting,” he told the Saturday Star this week. “This is an emotional, harrowing journey that will take the audience to some uncomfortable, uncompromising places. Strap in, pay attention, and enjoy the ride.”
The Showmax Original series, due to premiere on November 29, with new episodes every Tuesday until January 17, tells the tale of the brutal murders of six children in Limpopo whose bodies are found in the backwater forests of Donkerbos.
The harrowing case is headed by an ostracised police detective, played by multi award-winner Erica Wessels from Dwaalster and I Am All Girls.
The detective has to wrestle with her dark past, her family, and a distrustful community to catch the killer before another child is taken.
The star-studded cast also includes Safta Lifetime Achievement Award winner Thoko Ntshinga from The River, Fleur du Cap winners Sanda Shandu from Skemerdans and Nicole Holm from Fynskrif, and Silwerskermfees winner Stian Bam from The Story of Racheltjie de Beer.
They are joined by Jacques Bessenger, Aphiwe Sithole, Carel Nel, Rolanda Marais, Wilhelm van der Walt, Leandie Du Randt, Nicola Hanekom, Caleb Payne and Edwin van der Walt.
Scheepers is thrilled to have worked with such a stellar line-up and he insisted that “in Donkerbos, some of these actors go places you don’t expect”.
“We have an incredibly deep well of talent in South Africa and actors who give so much of themselves, and
it’s all up there on the screen,” he said.
“Any character is a three-way collaboration between the writer,
the director and the actor, and I was blessed with some of the best in our country.”
Scheepers received a 2022 South African Film and Television Award (Safta) for Best Editing for TV Drama for his work on another hit local production, Nêrens, Noord-kaap, also on Showmax.
But working on Donkerbos was a different experience for him.
“This is new territory for me, and I loved every second of the process.”
Scheepers said the inspiration for Donkerbos came from Scandinavian and South Korean murder mysteries.
“I really wanted to try my hand at creating a noir thriller of our very own.
“It was such a long, dark journey bringing these characters to the screen and, in a sense, you are every character you write, which leads you down a rabbit hole when writing something as twisted as this,” he said.
Despite the dark nature of the series, Scheepers believes the public will enjoy all that Donkerbos has to offer.
“I can’t wait for people to untangle it. I think the viewing public is ready and waiting,” he said.
Scheepers also believes many viewers will be able to relate to Donkerbos.
“The story of Donkerbos is fleshed out with relatable, real people. These are our neighbours, our teachers, our labourers, and these people are us, and I wanted to get as close to reality as possible.
“In a country where the statistics are worse than anything I could write, it was important to have everything that happens in the show feel real, motivated and tangible.
“These things don’t only happen to other people, they happen to all of us, and I wanted the show to reflect that,” he said.
Scheepers believes there is a demand for murder mysteries of this nature.
“These are the stories that live closest to the edge of chaos, where we are confronted with the harshest of truths – we are all, eventually, going to die.
“We love detective shows because we need to believe, in some way, that there are brave people still standing guard between us and the darkness.”