In her final on-screen appearance, the late South African actress Michelle Botes leads the cast of Netflix’s new Afrikaans series Tuiskoms.
The seven-episode Afrikaans-language series, set to debut on 28 February 2024, marks a farewell to the actress, who passed away in December last year at the age of 63, after battling with multiple myeloma, an incurable type of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow.
In Tuiskoms, Botes joins a cast of South African actors, including Amalia Uys, Dawid Minnaar, Marvin-Lee Beukes, Edwin van der Walt, Pierre van Pletzen, Jane De Wet, Armand Aucamp, Rika Sennett, Joshua Eady, and Christia Visser. Directed by Nina Swart, and produced by Infinity Films, Tuiskoms is a tale of love, loss, and redemption, showcasing the beauty of the Afrikaans language and culture.
The film follows the story of Fleur, a widowed chef who loses her restaurant and home overnight and must start anew in the small town of Wilderness. After losing her restaurant and home, the chef is forced to return to her childhood home in Wilderness with her daughter, where she embarks on a journey of healing and self-discovery, ultimately leading her to find love again and break free from the grief of her husband’s passing.
Michelle Botes brings to life the character of Abigail, Fleur’s mother. Filmed in mid-2023, the series is co-produced by Louis Pretorius and Albert Snyman, with director Nina Swart also collaborated with Pretorius as head writer.
Netflix expands its Afrikaans content with Tuiskoms, which is its second original series in the language, building on the success of Ludik.
Botes, best known for her role as Cherrel de Villers-Hains-le Roux in the soap opera Isidingo, also starred in films such as Binnelanders, Arende, Snake Dancer, Seeduiker, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, No Hero, Jewel, and M-Net’s telenovela The Legacy.
Botes’ acting career was marked by numerous accolades. The actress won two Avanti Awards in 2006 for Best Actress and Best Onscreen Villain. She also received the Crystal Award for Best TV Couple for her on-screen partnership with Robert Whitehead in Isidingo. Botes was a three-time nominee for Best Actress in a TV Soap at the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) in 2006, 2007, and 2012, and won the SAFTA Golden Horn Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Telenovela.
