From newsroom to silver screen

0 of 4

Former newspaper journalist and editor, Waldimar Pelser turned a television side hustle into his full-time gig as the director of M-Net and premium channels, a role which also allows him to indulge in his love of film.

Pelser, 47, is passionate about Kyknet’s Silwerskerm annual film festival, one of the most respected development platforms in the SA film industry.   

His entry into the television industry came after 21 years in newspapers as a reporter, news editor and editor of publications such as Beeld, Die Burger and Rapport.

“I started moonlighting as a presenter of Kyknet as a side hustle on what used to be called Insig and then became In Gesprek met Waldimar in 2014.

“I was a fixture on the Kyknet schedule for a long time. By the time I came to MultiChoice, I had been with Media 24 for 21 years, so it was time for a new adventure.

“I was mainly in news management and not doing much journalism except for the show on Kyknet.

“As an anchor in a current affairs TV show, you become part of people’s lives, in a way that is hard to rival in other media.

“People really connect emotionally and intellectually with who they see on screen.”

When the opportunity cropped up to move to the world of acquisition, licensing, commissioning and scheduling for the M-Net and Kyknet channels, he left newspapers — and his award-winning current affairs show — behind.

“It’s been an incredible immersion in a robust technology and industry.

“The market in news has become so fragmented, but Kyknet as an Afrikaans brand permeates the Afrikaans ecosystem and it is difficult to move around in Afrikaans spaces and not meet Kyknet viewers.”

Inheriting the Silwerskermfees, now in its 13th year, is a treasured element of his work.

“I love movies and was schlepped to Cinema Nouveau by my mother through my high school years, so have always been a heavy consumer of what I hope were the best movies of the time we live in.

“To inherit the vehicle which plays an outsize role in the SA movie space is an immense privilege.”

The complex nature of the SA film industry involves weighing up the commercial prospects of a film in a country where local releases are not usually economically feasible.

“Silwerskerm has to balance different imperatives. On the one hand it has to sustain innovation in filmmaking and push the envelope from time to time when it comes to themes and genres which I believe we continue to do, but it also has to find content which is sufficiently commercial so that it can bring people back to cinema theatres in our local market. It can never be only one of those two.

“So it remains a rich space for experimentation that allows directors and talent behind movies to do what is not constrained by the limitations of prime time linear TV.

“Because in the linear television space, especially a channel such as Kyknet, which is family orientated, there are places that you can’t go without risking estranging your audience.

“So the Silwerskerm Festival provides a space for the talent behind content to breathe in different air — and the sea breeze from Camps Bay is the metaphor for that. To push the boat out a bit.

“It is a freer space than just the television space and all of that make it precious.

“In a small industry where we try to play a role to bring new voices into the room and new talent onto screens, there would not be a meeting place once a year without Silwerskerm.

“So it is a fulcrum where young up-and-coming and established talent across television and film can meet and look each other in the eye in a world where far too much has gone online.”

Though the films, which include full-length feature films, short films and documentaries, both short and long, are made in Afrikaans, all have English subtitles, rendering them accessible to a wider audience.

“We decided years ago to use subtitles, especially in our scripted content.

“We do so across genres because it makes the content more accessible.

“Many people who consume video entertainment prefer subtitles for the sake of clarity.

“Because our Afrikaans audience is bilingual, the English subtitles are readily accepted by them and for some of them I think are used as a bit of a crutch.

“Also, a substantial viewership comes from people who don’t speak Afrikaans at home or who don’t self-identify as Afrikaans even though they may have grown up speaking the language.

“Because there is such a shortage of quality local content in English across broadcasters, Kyknet fills a gap there, which has been created by reductions in commissioned content in English for the SA audience.”

At ease addressing a room full of journalists as well as occupying the hot seat as a live TV news anchor, a part of him misses the buzz of anchoring a show.

“What I enjoyed in the television space is the adrenaline of live television and finding a way to convey news and analysis to a prime time audience in a way that they would value.

“And doing so live means no second take and, of course, your guests feel the same pressure and there’s tremendous merit in asking someone a question they didn’t expect and they have a few seconds to think of an answer — and people are watching in real time.

“There’s a pressure that accompanies that medium which I think aids the pursuit of truth because it’s not easy to bull**** on live TV.”

Employing his nose for news and holding people in power accountable is another aspect of journalism he feels nostalgic about.

“A high-pressure environment in a current affairs show such as the one I presented forces guests off script because it’s live so you can’t arrive there with cue cards.

“You can’t pretend it’s a scripted show. So it’s part documentary, part reality show and part news cast.

“It conveys serious information about serious stuff but it’s also theatre.

“It’s your ability to convince a sceptical audience of your argument and it’s a platform for you to influence for the guest, and to some extent, for the anchor. So that I miss sometimes.”

Pivoting to the business side of television is a new adventure and one he relishes.

“My adventure now in life is in a different forum and that is trying to make sense of the business side of what we do because it’s so important to all of us in this industry to try to do it in a sustainable way. Which spending on content is justified or not justified?

“This hinges not on science but on imperfect intuition and gut feel combined with many conversations with colleagues and conversations with viewers about what they like and don’t like, combined with ratings information.

“It is to plot a path forward in a very crowded media space, so I’m enjoying that a lot, even though there’s nothing like asking a crooked politician a difficult question on live TV!”

Pelser became a familiar face as a regular guest and commentator on the Oscar Pistorius Channel during his trial for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.

“I was from the Beeld newsroom and it was so exhilarating. It was a pop-up channel which broke new ground in SA television.

“I got used to having cameras trained on me and not waffling!

“Waffling is so easy. It comes naturally to me and the only way to learn to waffle less is to watch the recording the next day and see how you waffled and try to waffle less the next time.

“It was a lovely oven to be put into so early in my career.”

A scan of the documentaries that will be featured at 2025’s Silwerskem Film Festival reveal an exciting diversity of topics — from succulent stealing to gangsterism, wrestling and Marikana.

“I enjoy that we went to all these different places and that the only golden thread in the short documentaries is curiosity.

“Curiosity about odd people and extraordinary people who make a difference where they live and work.

“From the Temple Boys, a music group from Ravensmead, who were a phenomenon in Cape Town but were badly managed, to Marikana, to topics that one would never have dreamt of spending time consuming.

“For instance, succulent smuggling which is destroying sensitive ecosystems across parts of our country and the lone hero trying to do something about this with his small team in the Richtersveld.

“You are surprised by the variety of topics.

“Short doccies are a fairly new addition to the Silwerskerm offering and it is important for us to grow the depth of what we offer every year.

“We take doccies seriously at premium channels. M-Net just finished showing the Helderberg documentary series which was co-produced by Idea Candy, which does the mentoring for short doccies.

One of the feature films that stands out on 2025’s programme was prompted by the My F*k, Marelize video that went viral.

“Yes, behind many funny memes there is a heart-wrenching family story and this is the case with My F*k Marelize, where a mother’s battle with an existential threat was the context with what happened with Marelize on the bicycle on that day.

“We are thrilled to have this movie produced with our colleagues in Namibia.

“It’s a special story. It’s not flippant though there are moments of humour. It’s a beautiful family film.”

While he will not be drawn on what it costs to fund the films that appear on the glamorous Camps Bay festival, Pelser concedes it is both too much and not enough.

“In our budget it’s a lot of money but it’s important for us to sustain the craft. 

“None of the movies that come from Silwerskerm make their money back commercially.

“SA movies just don’t make enough at the box office to cover the production cost.

“So it is a labour of love and it is a never-ending quest to draw people back to cinema

“Because we have to draw them back to cinema if we are to have a truly sustainable funding model for cinema.

“So it’s a lot but it’s never enough, but we hope to do this for many, many more years.

• The 13th Silwerskermfees will be held from August 20 to 23 at The Bay Hotel and Theatre on the Bay in Camps Bay.

Daily Dispatch