Die Wonderwerker

Die Wonderwerker ("The miracle worker") is a South African film by Katinka Heyns.

NOTE: Not to be confused with William Gibson's stage play and the subsequent film called The Miracle Worker. Funnily enough the text of Gibson's play The Miracle Worker, the title of which has always been translated into Afrikaans simply as Die Wonderwerk (i.e. "The Miracle").

The film

Die Wonderwerker is one of two impressive films made about the life of the South African poet, journalist, naturalist and advocate Eugène Marais (the other being The Guest: An episode in the Life of Eugène Marais by Athol Fugard and Ross Devenish, 1977[1]). Both works are concerned with a particularly traumatic period in his life when he spent a few months on the Van Rooyen family's farm to deal with his addiction problem, though the emphasis differs.

The film script for Die Wonderwerker was written by Chris Barnard and the film was produced by André Scholtz, directed by Katinka Heyns and released in 2012[2]. Cinematography was by Koos Roets, music by Ben Ludik, editing by Ronelle Loots.

The film featured Dawid Minnaar as "Eugène Marais", Elize Cawood and Marius Weyers as the "Van Rooyens", Anneke Weidemann and Erica Wessels (as the young and older "Jane Brayshaw" - 1908 and 1934), as well as Kaz McFadden, Sandra Kotze, Cobus Rossouw, Rika Sennett, Amor Tredoux, Vaneshran Arumugam, Lika Berning, and Albertus Pretorius.