The local siblings, in their directorial debut, recently returned from London, where their Wes Anderson-inspired film premiered at the BFI Film Festival.
Cape Town, South Africa (27 October 2025) – Last month, we shared the good news about Zenobia Klopper’s new role in a South African film called Finding Optel. (It was released on Showmax last week, so now’s your chance to give it a watch!)
The story follows a ‘teen detective’ who must confront one of her most painful memories to crack her biggest mystery yet. It’s Wes Anderson-inspired, with a good dose of quirk and wholesomeness, but still tackles more serious themes.
The homegrown film was directed by brother and sister duo Mikayla Joy and Jesse Brown, who recently just got back from a whirlwind trip London, where Finding Optel premiered at the prestigious BFI London Film Festival!
It’s a cornerstone event that kicks off awards season.
“It’s an incredible privilege to be selected [to attend the event]. This is one of the world’s top film festivals and a place we hadn’t imagined seeing so early on in our film careers,” says Jessie.
As the siblings got to show their award-winning film to an international audience for the first time, they were bombarded by love and support from home. A fitting outpouring of love for a story that was all about community to begin with.
“We really felt supported and sent by family and friends. The film touches on the importance of community and we were so happy to be living out those themes on our travels. I appreciated the video calls and encouraging messages,” says Jessie.
The BFI is big, the red carpet event saw the likes of stars like Kirsten Dunst, Paul Mescal, Mia Goth, Andrew Garfield and Julia Roberts in attendance this year. Having two of SA’s still up-and-coming directors amongst a list of star-studded names is a proud moment.
The local film premiered at the BFI Southbank venue, and over 100 people attended. Including a handful of fellow South Africans keen to get a good dose of home. International viewers were also curious to learn more about SA after seeing elements of it on screen.
“The screening had people attending of all ages, which we really appreciated. There were also a number of South Africans, who were grateful to hear some local phrases in a film! We had a lovely Q&A time with host Justin Johnson. The audience were also engaged and had some wonderful questions to ask about the Cape Flats and our use of Afrikaaps.”
A standout moment came when a film student in the UK approached Mikayla.
“One of the audience members is studying film in the UK and she told me that Finding Optel is the type of film that she wants to make one day. I was so touched that the film inspired her. That was one of my hopes: that the film would encourage people to create uplifting, whimsical stories. I was even more touched when she asked for my autograph! She and her friends made an ‘Optel Found’ sign and asked me to sign it. It was very sweet,” she says.
The pair also had a chance to be tourists in London for a while. Most of the magic happens there when you’re exploring on foot.
“London is a funny place. On the bus, I’d carry around my journal and write down the interesting interactions I’d see between people. I remember I was walking through Trafalgar Square and in the same space, there was a man having a heavy argument with an authority figure, a man preaching the gospel and another man fabulously doing karaoke. There’s definitely never a dull moment in London,” says Mikayla.
From overwhelming local recognition at Silwerskerm last year to the BFI, Jesse and Mikayla say they felt like small fishes in a much bigger pond. But at the same time, being around so much international talent came with a good wave of inspiration.
Not only that, but London’s cinema culture is still going strong.
“I was surprised by the strong cinema culture in London. Towards the end of the festival, it was difficult to get tickets to films because there was so much public interest. People would wait in the standby queue two to three hours before a big film’s premiere. In South Africa, it’s sad to see so many cinemas closing down. Festivals like Silwerskermfees are so necessary to keep cinema culture alive,” shares Mikayla.
It’s true. In a time where cinema feels quite shaky on South African grounds, it’s good to know that there are still local and international channels where our homegrown talent can really shine.
Sources: Supplied
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