Variations on a Theme opens for a limited one-week run in select cinemas this May

Set in the mountains of Kharkams in the Northern Cape, the 65-minute film follows Ouma Hettie, a 79-year-old goat herder who is taken in by a scam promising long-overdue reparations for her father’s World War II service.

It’s the second feature from 2026 Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Jason Jacobs and co-director Devon Delmar. The duo debuted at Venice with Carissa and went on to win the top prize at Rotterdam with Variations on a Theme. Two-time Oscar winner Christopher Nolan similarly won the Tiger Award at Rotterdam for his debut feature Following.

Jacobs, who narrates the film says:

“My great-grandfather fought for the Allies in World War II. He was 19 when he signed up. Like many others, he must have returned with his head full of nighttime terrors: of artillery fire and screams heard in dark and foreign lands, of bombs, falling planes and burning cities. His payment after four years of service? At the harbour in Cape Town, before heading home to his goats, he received a pair of boots and a bicycle.”

Delmar says:

“While our film is fictional, it’s based on lived experiences. This includes the scam. In many ways, this is yet another variation on a theme: that this community is still waiting, hoping and persevering, just as they’ve been since 1945.”

At this year’s SAFTAs, their production collective, KRAAL, received the Outstanding Provincial Contribution Award for their work in the Northern Cape.

Variations on a Theme is cast entirely from the local community. The lead role of Ouma Hettie is played by Jacobs’ own grandmother, Hettie Farmer, making her film debut at 80 to critical acclaim, including in Variety.

Gladwin van Niekerk, one of the breakout stars of Carissa, features again and travelled from Kharkams to Rotterdam to collect the Tiger Award with the directors.

Variations on a Theme won Best African Film at the Joburg Film Festival. In April 2026, the film’s international festival run continued at Hong Kong International Film Festival as well as New Directors/New Films, an annual collaboration between The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Film at Lincoln Center in New York.

Variety calls the film “lovely… there’s a warmly observational, literary quality… lovingly attentive to language and local custom, in the spirit of such long-gone storytellers as Herman Charles Bosman and Eugène Marais.”

ScreenDaily also praised the film, hailing it as “a pure, fresh, surprising cinematic delight.” Filmmaker Magazine said it’s “filled with wonder, kindness, and the loving bonds of family and community.” And Sight & Sound called it “a beautiful portrait of a woman and a place… Something extraordinary emerges from the film, the magic inherent in the ordinary time travel of a long-lived life.”

Variations on a Theme will screen at The Labia and Ster-Kinekor V&A Nouveau in Cape Town, as well as at The Bioscope and Ster-Kinekor Rosebank Nouveau in Johannesburg. This follows a three-night red carpet community screening in Kharkams in March 2026, where the film’s awards were celebrated with the cast and community.

Variations on a Theme is a KRAAL film, presented by The National Film and Video Foundation in association with The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture. It’s co-produced by Meria Films and Interakt, with the support of The Hubert Bals Fund, The Doha Film Institute, L’Institut Francais, Le centre national du cinema et l’image, and The Carthage-Pro/Takmil.

Variations on a Theme opens for a limited one-week run in select cinemas from Friday, 8 May 2026, over the Mother’s Day weekend.