Gerrit Schoonhoven (27 September 1958 – 20 October 2020), was a South African filmmaker, television director and actor. He is best known for directing the soapie ''Binnelanders''.

Personal life

Schoonhoven was born on 27 September 1958 in South Africa. In 1981, he graduated with an honors degree in drama from the

University of Potchefstroom The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to cr ...

(UOP). He became a lecturer in drama at the same university in 1985. He married Marius Meyer on 27 September 2020. He died on 20 October 2020 at the age of 62 due to cancer.

Career

In 1980 while studying at UOP, he acted in Rob Antonissen's translation into Afrikaans of Mariken van Nieumeghen. In 1982, he joined with Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal (PACT) and continued to perform in theatre until 1985 in plays such as; ''Die Vasvat van 'n Feeks'' and ''Die Keiser''. In the 1980s, he became a director at the ATKV Kampustoneel, where he directed the production ''We All Fall Down''. Meanwhile, he also designed the lighting with Patrick Curtis. In 1988, he compiled and directed the play ''Piekniek''. After that, he joined the theatre group Performing Arts Council of the Orange Free State (PACOFS) from 1986 to 1987. In 1987, he won the Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for New Directors. Later he won the Fleur du Cap for Best New Director for directing the critically acclaimed play ''Somewhere on the Border''. In 1997, he performed in multiple stage plays such as; ''Anna van Wyk'' and ''Endgame''. In 1999, he performed in the play ''Antony and Cleopatra'' at the Grahamstown Festival. Since then, he directed several stage plays such as; ''Onderhoud met 'n Bobbejaan'' and ''Hond se Gedagte'' in 1985, ''Somewhere on the Border'' for the Grahamstown Festival in 1986, ''Spooks'' in 1986, ''Beckett'' and ''Kinderspeletjies'' in 1987, and ''Huise Vol Uile'' and ''Diesel and Dust'' in 1989. In 1991, he directed the play ''n Koffer in die Kas'' and then the play ''Sleeping with Alice'' in 1996. Later, he wrote the one-act stage play ''Trajek van Tralies''. In 2005, he became the director of kykNET soap opera ''Binnelanders'', where he continued to direct for more than 15 years. In 2006, he won the SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns honorary award for Afrikaans television. In the next year, he won the award for the Best Director for directing the television serial ''Orion''. Since 2014, he worked in the panel of judges for the kykNET Rapport Book Prize under fiction section. In 2016, he directed the film ''Twee Grade van Moord'' which was released nationwide on 22 July 2016. In 2021, he was posthumously awarded Best Achievement in Directing at the 15th annual

South African Film and Television Awards The South African Film and Television Awards (sometimes referred to as the Golden Horns; often simply called the SAFTAs) is an annual South African awards ceremony hosted by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), to honour creative exce ...

(SAFTA).

Filmography

References

External links

IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoonhoven, Gerrit 1958 births 2020 deaths South African male film actors South African male television actors South African male stage actors Afrikaner people Deaths from cancer in South Africa