ZOG | First on Showmax

Zog is the keenest but clumsiest pupil in his class at Dragon School, where he longs to win a gold star as he learns how to fly, roar and breathe fire. He keeps meeting a kindly young girl who patches up his bumps and bruises, but can she help him with his trickiest school assignment yet: capturing a princess?

Animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish and produced by the UK’s Magic Light Pictures, the 27-minute animated short captures the magic of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s bestselling picture book, with an all-star voice cast including the likes of Kit Harington, Sir Lenny Henry and Tracey Ullman. It’s co-directed by multi-award-winning South African Daniel Snaddon (Stick Man) and two-time Oscar nominee Max Lang (The Gruffalo and Room On The Broom).

This year Zog has been named Best Animation at the 2020 International Emmy Kids Awards and won the Children’s Programme Award from the Royal Television Society, among other honours like Kidscreen and Annie Awards nominations.

RAGE | Showmax Original

In Rage, a group of school-leavers descend on a tiny coastal town for a celebration of their freedom. Roxy, Sihle, Kyle, Leon, Tamsyn and Neo party on the beach and drink themselves silly every night. The townsfolk, Hermien and her son Albert, are welcoming – too welcoming. During a psychedelic trip on the beach, the friends witness a disturbing birth ritual, which could be a hallucination, or not. Soon fertility figurines start to appear at random places, and what is supposed to be the best holiday of their lives turns to horror as the teenagers are picked off one by one.

Rage is directed by Jaco Bouwer, a multi-award-winning theatre director who’s one of three Best Director nominees in the drama series category at the 2020 SAFTAs, for Dwaalster. His short film, this country is lonely, premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2018 and he also directed Die Spreeus, one of the 10 most-watched local series on Showmax in 2019.

NOUGHTS + CROSSES S1

From 23:30 on Thursdays. Binge from 16 April

“Over 700 years ago, the Aprican Empire invaded Europe. Aprica colonised the continent and reached as far as Albion. Albion has been under Aprican rule ever since.” So begins Noughts + Crosses, a controversial six-part BBC One series based on Malorie Blackman’s multi-award-winning novel.

Shot largely in Cape Town with Film Afrika, the series also stars Paterson Joseph (Peep Show, The Leftovers) and South African actress Bonnie Mbuli (Invictus, Wallander) as Sephy’s parents, Kamal and Jasmine, with BAFTA nominee Helen Baxendale (Cold Feet, Emily in Friends) and Tribeca winner Ian Hart (Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter) as Callum’s parents, as well as Josh Dylan (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, The End of the F***ing World) as his brother Jude.

Noughts + Crosses has an 83% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Times (UK) calling it “Mesmerising… It’s important, this one. We’ll be talking about it for years.”

A UNITED KINGDOM

The year before South Africa formalised Apartheid in 1948, King Seretse Khama (two-time Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo) of the neighbouring British protectorate of Bechuanaland married a British white woman, Ruth Williams (Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike). This upsets both their families, not to mention the governments of South Africa, South West Africa, Rhodesia and the United Kingdom, who try to declare Khama unfit to rule.

The opening film of the 2016 BFI London Film Festival, A United Kingdom is more than just a heart-warming true story of love overcoming all odds: it’s also the story of Botswana’s independence, its transition to democracy, and its fight to retain the rights to any diamonds found within its borders.

FRANK & FEARLESS – First on Showmax

If life is feeling too serious for you right now, Showmax has the escapist movie for you: Frank & Fearless, the most recent comedy by South African box office phenomenon Leon Schuster.

When rhino calf Reini is orphaned by poachers, 10-year-old Fearless (Themba Ntuli from Meerkat Maantuig) decides to take action. Teaming up with Sonny Frank (Schuster), a lovable and possibly certifiable rogue, Fearless, Reini and a big black dog set out to find justice for Africa’s last remaining rhinos, gangster-style. Their quest goes horribly wrong when they run into a platoon of merciless poachers but fortunately Africa itself seems to be on their side.

There’s more content to lookout for, to check that out see here. Please note this release schedule is subject to change.

ZAC & MIA S2
Binge now

Zac & Mia, based on the multi-award-winning novel by AJ Betts, centres on two teenagers battling cancer in the same hospital. In the everyday world, Zac and Mia would have nothing in common, but in the hospital, where they’re the only teens on the ward, they develop an unbreakable bond.

In Season 2, Zac looks forward to things going back to normal as he returns home, but soon discovers that normal is not what it once was. Mia embarks on physiotherapy and is learning to adjust to life after her operation, but she has a long, hard road ahead of her. The one thing they have is each other, but could what brought them together become the thing that tears them apart?

Common Sense Media rates the show as 13+, saying Zac and Mia “examines the inner turmoil that comes with having a serious illness, but also the hope and clarity that can be found when people get real with one another.”

They also give the show kudos for “showing the mental health repercussions that come along with trying to be ‘strong’ for your family and friends, and how even the most stoic among us need the permission to fully express and experience our emotions.”

THE ORVILLE S2
Binge now

Series creator Seth McFarlane (the Oscar-nominated creator of Family Guy and Ted) is Ed Mercer, captain of the exploratory space vessel The Orville. He faces intergalactic challenges and interpersonal dynamics along with his crew, 400 years in the future.

Inspired by classic series like Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, Season 2 of this irreverent space adventure promises more character-driven drama (and comedy), with The Orville on course to make first contact with new alien civilisations, return to Moclus, and confront the Krill.

EMERGENCE S1
Binge now

Long Island police chief Jo Evans (Golden Globe nominee Allison Tolman from Fargo) investigates a case involving a young child found unscathed at the site of a mysterious plane accident. The girl has no memory of who she is or how she got there, but her arrival is marked by unexplained phenomena and electronic disruptions.

PRESS S1
First on Showmax, binge now

Staffers at two newspapers – a left-leaning broadsheet and a right-leaning populist tabloid – fight for truth, entertainment and the ultimate scoop as two British newspapers go head-to-head in a press world fraught with scandals, under pressure from the 24 hour news cycle, and constantly evolving in the digital age.

NOUGHTS + CROSSES
Express from M-Net; Thursdays from 12 March

The highly anticipated BBC sci-fi adaptation of the first book in Malorie Blackman’s best-selling young adult novel series is set in a dystopian alternate history where black “Cross” people rule over white “Noughts”. Against a backdrop of prejudice, distrust and rebellion, childhood friends Sephy and Callum must fight for more than simply the right to be together.

WESTWORLD S3
Same time as M-Net, express from the US, Mondays from 16 March

Sci-fi drama Westworld is a dark wild west odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the birth of a new form of life on Earth. And this season, they’re knocking it “out of the park”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64CYajemh6E&feature=emb_title

But wait, there more…

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE S6 – Comedy | Won two Golden Globes, for Best Comedy Series and Best Actor (Andy Samberg) | Binge now
SUPERSTORE S4 – Comedy | Teen Choice Award nominee for Choice TV Actress: Comedy (America Ferrera) | Binge now

To see everything on Showmax in March, click here. and as always, please note the schedule is subject to change.