In November 2020, Showmax revealed that filming for its much-anticipated small-town psychological thriller DAM had concluded in the Eastern Cape.
The streaming service has now released a first-look trailer for the Showmax Original set to premiere on Monday, 22 February, 2021.
‘DAM’ plot
Silwerskerm Best Actress winner Lea Vivier (Wonderlus) stars as Yola Fischer, who returns from Chile to the Eastern Cape to bury her father. She discovers he’s left his farm to her, much to the irritation of her sister, Sienna.
It turns out that this may be more of a curse than a blessing, as the house seems to be trying to tell her something. But with her mother institutionalised, and her own meds running out, Yola has to wonder if the spirits are real or just in her head.
Two-time SAFTA winner Pallance Dladla (Shadow, Isibaya) co-stars as Themba, Yola’s love interest and a biker on the run, while four-time SAFTA winner Alex Yazbek (Unmarried, The Wild, Isibaya) wrote and directed this twisty and twisted eight-part series.
DAM was filmed on location in the Bedford and Adelaide towns of the Amathole District in the Eastern Cape.
Judging by the trailer, three-time SAFTA-winning cinematographer Tom Marais (Hunter Killer, iNumber Number) has clearly made the most of the locations, which mark a welcome change from the cities we usually see in South African series.
Stellar cast
Neil Sandilands (The Flash, News of the World) stars as Bernoldus while Natasha Loring (Beaver Falls, voice character in Star Wars, Game of Thrones) plays the role of Sienna. Both took a break from Hollywood for the series.
Keep your eyes peeled during the trailer for glimpses of Fleur du Cap winner and 2020 Africa Movie Academy Award nominee Faniswa Yisa (Knuckle City and the upcoming Showmax Original Blood Psalms); SAFTA winner Antoinette Louw (An Act of Defiance, Die Laaste Tango); Gerald Steyn (Meisies Wat Fluit, Fiela Se Kind); and aKing frontman Laudo Liebenberg (Black Sails, Die Byl).
Others include Fiesta winners Tarryn Wyngaard (Noem My Skollie, Raised by Wolves, Dwaalster) and Andre Odendaal (Swartwater, Dwaalster); Fleur du Cap winner and three-time SAFTA nominee Jennifer Steyn (Goodbye Bafana); and David James (District 9).
DAM is a Showmax Original made in partnership with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, the Amathole District Municipality and Picture Tree.
Watch DAM‘s first-look trailer on YouTube here.