Francois van Heerden is a middle-aged white Afrikaner who becomes obsessed with a friend's son, a young and handsome student named Christian.

It is Christian who, on the surface, symbolises the film's title, skoonheid meaning beauty in Afrikaans.

For van Heerden, who has constructed a supposedly happy life around wealth, education, a nice house and family, sexual desire for men is not a reality that fits into his identity. 


As with van Heerden's controlled face, Oliver Hermanus never lets us get too close to the character.

Skoonheid is the first Afrikaans movie to be featured at the Cannes Film Festival, but to pigeonhole it as Afrikaans, 'gay', or an art movie is misleading.

The film transcends sexuality and culture, probing and unfolding human psychology.

Film synopsis: Tells the story of Francois van Heerden, a mid-40s, white, Afrikaans-speaking family man living in Bloemfontein, who has become devoid of any care or concern for his own measure of happiness, and so convinced of his ill-fated existence, that he is wholly unprepared when a chance encounter unravels his clean, controlled life.


Directed by: 
Oliver Hermanus

Visit the site: Skoonheid