Must-watch trailer: R-rated South African comedy Khaki Fever

Showmax has just released the trailer for Khaki Fever ahead of its world premiere at the kykNET Silwerskerm Festival on Friday, 22 August 2025. The R-rated comedy starts streaming on the African streamer two weeks later, Friday, 5 September 2025.

In Khaki Fever, a group of game rangers set up a challenge to see who can hook up with the most tourists during a season.

The prize? The title of being the King of Khaki, as well as the losers’ collective tips.

The challenge? Outsmarting Anel, the conservative lodge manager, who has made it clear that anyone caught fraternising with guests will be fired on the spot.

Watch the 18 SNL trailer for Khaki Fever

“Khaki fever is what happens when lonely tourists see ripped game rangers get out of their 4×4 in their khaki kortbroek,” says director Brett Michael Innes. “If you’ve ever been to a bushveld game lodge, you’ve seen it first hand. So this is a story about wild animals and wilder rangers.”

Held annually since 2010, Silwerskerm is the leading festival for Afrikaans films. Brett launched his career there in 2015 with his feature film directorial debut Sink, which won Best Writer. His second feature, Fiela’s Child, won the Audience Choice prize there in 2019. Both films went on to win South African Film and Television Awards for Best Film and Best Screenplay.

This Silwerskerm, Brett has his fingers in half of the six films in competition: in addition to Khaki Fever, he wrote My F*k Marelize and produced The Heart Is A Muscle, which won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival.

Khaki Fever is his second comedy film as director, building on the success of Daryn’s Gym, which competed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2022. “I directed a short film for Silwerskerm last year that was about a sleep-deprived mother who was ready to kill her colicky baby, so I wanted this one to be the polar opposite in terms of tone,” he says. “This is a Friday night film, a funny and sexy safari escape with your friends after a long week.”

He co-wrote Khaki Fever with his husband Nick Ahlers. They also produced the film together with Paulo Areal (Ellen Pakkies) for Nostalgia Productions. “They say you shouldn’t work with animals or your life partner but we did both of these things and are still happily married,” says Nick. “We’re already writing the next feature, so watch this space.”

Emmy-winning casting director Christa Schamberger helped Brett and Nick pick the rangers. “The challenge was to find actors who are good-looking and funny; those two don’t usually live in the same WhatsApp group,” laughs Brett.

SAFTA-nominated Top Billing presenter Christopher Jaftha leads the cast as Daniel, opposite four 2025 Silwerskerm nominees Anja Taljaard and Trix Vivier (both Juffrou X), Liam Bosman (Een Keer Om Die Son), and Ilse Klink (Nêrens, Noord-Kaap). Also look out for singer Abel Knobel, Francois Jacobs (aka Kaalgat Karel) and Sean Brebnor (Getroud Met Rugby) as rangers – all dressed by Boerboel Wear, the viral brand that sponsored all the khaki uniforms in the film.

Juanita de Villiers (Reënboogrant) and Izette Blignaut (Binnelanders) complete the cast, along with lions, giraffe, hyena, and a runaway French bulldog called Chardonnay.

SAFTA nominee Loki Rothman (Koek) composed the score and created an original theme song for the film, aptly titled ‘Khaki Fever’.

Shot on location in the Cradle of Humankind, Khaki Fever premieres at The Rotunda at The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, Cape Town at 20:00 on Friday, 22 August 2025, with a second screening on Saturday, 23 August 2025, at 18:00 in the same venue. Book your tickets on Quicket: https://qkt.io/Id4LHs.

Rated 18SNL, Khaki Fever is one of five Showmax Originals screening at Silwerskerm this year, alongside the whimsical family film Finding Optel and, in the TV pilots category, the reality series Vaal Riviera, the documentary Unspoken War, and the drama series Ontwaak.

Stream Khaki Fever (and Finding Optel) on Showmax from Friday, 5 September.