Our Forest makes the Oscars……
Did you know that The Knysna forest has assisted in the filming of some great South African Films? Toorbos being one of them, captured in our forest and has been selected as the SA entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards as well as an entry into the Oscars.
The Knysna forest with all its beauty and mystery has been a favourite for Writers and Film producers and has delivered some great content and stories. One of the most famous writers and storytellers of the forest is Daleen Matthee. If you ever wanted a true sense of what it was like for the early Woodcutters and living in this beauty her books are worth the read. These books are part of South African literature and are prescribed school textbooks. Her books were both produced in Afrikaans and English and her stories were gripping and interesting. Some of her most famous titles were “Fiela’s Child”( 1984), “The Mulberry forest”(1987), “Circle in the forest” (1984) and “Dream Forest” or “Toorbos” (2003) in Afrikaans.
The book Toorbos was one of the last novels Daleen Matthee published before her sudden passing in 2005. She would have been so proud that this story about our forest made it to the Oscars.
After 6 years of working behind the scenes to take on the Toorbos Project in 2018 René Van Rooyen announced the directing of the film and André Scholtz and Dries Scholtz of The Film Factory were the producers.
The Story “Toorbos” is a gripping Historical Fiction novel about a girl Karoliena Kapp, an orphan who grew up in the Goudveld Reserve, the forest that surrounds our Establishment, Forest Edge. She was a pretty girl that caught the eye of a young gentleman, Johannes, who lived in the forest as a woodcutter but decided to move to town, to free himself from poverty. Before she turned 20 she was forced to marry him, and realizes her mistake and uses the first chance she gets to return to the forest world as she knows it. The book contains many references to our local area the birds and flora we call home.
The role of Karoliena is played by Elani Dekker and Johannes by Stiaan Smith. The production of the movie took place mid-2018 and was produced in our very own forest, among other places in South Africa. They tried to make the film as authentic as possible, so the viewer can become one with the forest through the eye of their lenses.
The movie is currently showing at Ster Kinekors around the country and available on Box Office and certainly worth watching.
If you have visited us before our forest is really one of the most magical places in South Africa, and it a blessing to have “Our” Stories told and our forest shared with all those who have not been able to visit us yet or those who want to relive their memory.
Well done to everyone involved in producing such a great film, and we wish you all of the luck and holding thumbs for both the Acadamy Awards and the Oscars.
We look forward to your visit at Forest Edge Nature Lover’s Retreat
Forest Greetings
