Award Winner Congratulations to Kanya Viljoen!
Film Awards
The film “Baptism of Silence/'n Doop om Stilte" (South Africa, 2023) by Kanya Viljoen and Emilie Badenhorst has taken home a win at JETS 2025, the Junior Entertainment Talent Slate, at the 16th Durban FilmMart Festival “Bridges, not Borders: Stories that Unite” in July 2025. The film also won the IEFTA Connect Award and Sørfond Award and the writer-director duo will be travelling to Norway in November 2025 to present their project on another international stage.
Baptism of Silence/'n Doop om Stilte
“Baptism of Silence/'n Doop om Stilte" explores the themes of toxic masculinity and abuse. The psychological drama follows the young student Joshua through an evening of initiation at an all-boys high school. As the evening progresses, Joshua is not only confronted by physical challenges, but forced to discover who he is and what he is willing to fight for.
Unusual Bones
The film was written and produced by Kanya Viljoen and Emilie Badenhorst, the writer-director duo of “Unusual Bones”, a female-led collective that seeks to explore alternative and collaborative ways of creating projects.