Movies by Jacques Bessenger
Sink
‘Sink’ tells the story of Rachel, a Mozambican domestic worker based in Johannesburg, who is forced to make a devastating choice after her daughter drowns whilst under the care of her employer; return to poverty stricken Mozambique or continue working for the family responsible for the death of her child so she can support her extended family back home. The story is a haunting exploration of motherhood, loss and the walls that separate people.
Traitors
During the Boer War in South Africa, upon hearing that the British are planning a scorched earth policy, a respected Boer officer, who's also a loving father and husband, decides to go home and protect his wife and family instead of participating further in the war. The decision leads to a treason trial for him and his sons.
Kanarie
Kanarie (Afrikaans for 'Canary') is a coming-of-age musical war drama. Drafted into the South African army during apartheid, a young soldier joins the military's traveling choir, and romance on the battlefield causes him to deal with his long-repressed sexual identity through hardship, camaraderie, first love, and the liberating freedom of music, the true self can be discovered.
Krotoa
Krotoa, a feisty, bright, 11-year-old girl is removed from her close-knit Khoi tribe to serve Jan van Riebeeck, her uncle’s trading partner and the first Governor of the Cape Colony. She is brought into the first Fort established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. There she grows into a visionary young woman who assimilates the Dutch language and culture so well that she rises to become an influential translator but ends up being rejected by her own people as she tries to bridge the gap between the two cultures about to collide.
Blood and Glory
Set in 1901, this period epic follows Willem Morkel, a Boer family man whose wife and son are murdered during the Anglo-Boer War. Captured as a prisoner of war, Willem must survive incarceration in the notorious St. Helena concentration camp and defeat the ruthless Colonel Swannell, at his own game—Rugby