A new drama from iEmmy-nominated creators, a true-crime documentary and a Ghanaian Original drama are among the key items that will lead the March 2023 UK slate for African streaming service Showmax.
Taking place in Johannesburg, original drama Adulting from South Africa’s iEmmy-nominated Tshedza Pictures, is set in the parallel universes of four varsity friends. Their strong bond has held them together even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions. Theirs is the bromance of the decade.
Thembinkosi Mthembu stars as successful businessman Bonga, with Luthando BU Mthembu as toy-boy Vuyani, Thabiso Rammutsi as cheating family man Mpho and Nhanhla Kunene as hot-headed bad-boy Eric.
Showmax Original Stella Murders is a true-crime documentary that investigates the 2018 murders of two girls at Stella High School in North West, South Africa. It investigates the deaths of best friends Sharnelle Hough (17) and Marna Engelbrecht (16) at their hostel. Home to just over 4 000 people, Stella is a small, quiet cattle-farming dorpie near Vryburg in North West. “In such a close-knit community, danger is expected to come from the outside,” says clinical psychologist Elmarie Claassens in the trailer. “But the thing about danger is: it doesn’t come exclusively from the outside.”
On Saturday morning, 26 May 2018, Sharnelle was found hanged by the staircase and Marna was discovered in a bathroom, with both deaths initially looking like suicides. The 90-minute documentary features interviews with Ronnie and Sonja Hough, Sharnelle’s parents; Stefaans, Rianet, and Riané Engelbrecht, Marna’s father, mother and sister; Captain Zagaries Human, the Stella South African Police Services station commander; Captain Markus Ferreira, the investigating officer; private investigator Chris Saunders; and Advocate Johan Smit, the state prosecutor, now retired.
New Ghanaian Showmax Original drama series The Billionaire’s Wife follows Adepa, a 19-year-old from the slums of Ashaiman who marries an old billionaire with the aim of turning her fortunes around, only to find out that being a billionaire’s wife is the toughest thing she’s ever done.
The 45-minute episodes are set in the glamorous, chaotic, unpredictable and scandalous world of the rich and powerful in Accra. Adepa finds herself locked in an endless battle for survival, where backstabbers, schemers and faceless enemies will stop at nothing to prove she is a fraud and a gold digger. The Billionaire’s Wife is directed and produced respectively by Ad-Visors duo Danny Adotey and Collins Amlalo, known for Akwaaba Magic’s hit drama Inside Out.
Also on the slate is Sex & Pleasure. Hosted by writer Kim Windvogel and journalist Romantha Botha, Sex & Pleasure will take a broader view of what South Africans get up to behind closed doors, and, well, everywhere else too. Each episode will explore the subject in relation to a different topic: sex work, parenting, love, drugs, orgasm, disability, age, and spirituality.
Kim and Romantha co-wrote and conceptualised Sex & Pleasure with director Ayanda Duma, who was also a producer on the South African leg of Planet Sex with Cara Delevigne. SAFTA winner IdeaCandy (Steinheist, Devilsdorp) is producing the eight-part series, which includes motion graphics by Mbali Hlatshwayo
Source: https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2023030663520/showmax-uk-beefs-up-content-bundle.html#axzz7vAzJEH8V