Stream Die Bloedhonde on Showmax from 6 September

Die Bloedhonde premieres on Showmax this Friday, 6 September 2024, fresh from its sold-out premiere at Silwerskerm.

While camping with her family, Katrien starts to suspect that the beloved local dominee might be responsible for an apparent suicide at the resort. With a middle-aged drifter as her only ally, she throws everything into the battle to prove the church, the community and her own family wrong.

SAFTA nominees Elani Dekker (Toorbos) and Tobie Cronjé (Hans Steek Die Rubicon Oor) star as Katrien and Dominee Lukas respectively, with multi-award winner Waldemar Schultz (Die Byl) as the drifter, Jasper.

Die Bloedhonde is written and directed by Stiaan Smith, SAFTA-winning co-creator of Hotel. Stiaan wrote the part of Katrien for Elani, his fiancée, whom he starred opposite in the South African Oscar entry Toorbos.

Watch the trailer for Die Bloedhonde

Die Bloedhonde was filmed at Swadini Vacation Resort, on the border of Mpumalanga and Limpopo - one of the many stops the couple made on their three-year van-life journey around South Africa.

“Die Bloedhonde is a murder mystery about an unlikely duo who set out to prove that the death of a young boy wasn't actually suicide,” says Stiaan. “But it’s also a coming of age story about a young woman's yearning for connection with her family, whose beliefs and worldviews differ from hers.
It’s a story about how true connection can only be achieved once you let go of your need to be right and allow others to be who they are and believe what they believe.”

The mystery about camping, religion and family was written during Stiaan and Elani’s travels, and deeply shaped by that time. “The van life was a time when we figured out what we wanted our relationships with our families to look like,” says Elani. “I think there’s a Katrien in both of us. This whole project just constantly reminded me and challenged me to let go of my preconceived notions of other people and what other people should or shouldn't do, may or may not do, and what I should or shouldn't do, what I may and may not do. It brought about a big life change for me. Not everyone thinks like you, and that's okay. You don't have to suppress your truth to fit in with other people, but you also don't have to force your truth on other people so that they fit in with you. I hope the film gets people thinking and talking with friends and family, especially if they recognise some of the relationship dynamics on screen. “

For Tobie, the appeal was how Stiaan’s script “mixed such dark drama with comedy… It is wonderful to me that we as Afrikaners can still laugh at ourselves. As a nation, we should always laugh at ourselves. Even if a situation becomes serious - as happens in the movie - we still have to keep our tongues firmly in our mouths. Laughter is always the best medicine.”

Die Bloedhonde is produced by Nagvlug, the production company behind South Africa’s Oscar entry Barakat and acclaimed series like Donkerbos and Nêrens, Noord-Kaap.