Jacques Cloete, Senior Lecturer in Directing and Editing at AFDA Gqeberha, is a filmmaker and educator whose work is defined by a bold countercultural voice and a commitment to South African storytelling. With a background in Psychology, Linguistics, Literature, and South African Sign Language from the University of the Free State, where he graduated with distinction. Jacques approaches filmmaking as both a precise science and a poetic act of resistance.
From early on, Jacques engaged with narrative forms that challenged the mainstream. His undergraduate shorts, Onverseker and Kans, both earned festival recognition for their daring themes and visual sensitivity. He continued to explore marginal voices and alternative narratives through genre as a lens, culminating in his Honours black comedy graduation film Katgriep, which won Best Film at the University of the Free State and marked the beginning of a career dedicated to trying something different within the South African cinematic landscape.
Jacques’s work spans lifestyle, documentary, journalism, and fiction, but it’s within short film where his vision has flourished. He received the Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda for As if the Rain Watched Over Her, a poetic exploration of grief and mysticism. His horror short Veters van Ampersand gained acclaim for its ground breaking exploration of the horror genre within South African context. He followed that up with Snow Black in 2024, which placed second at the 48-Hour Film Festival, earning Best Editing, while Just Me placed third the year before, winning Best Cinematography.
Across his body of work, Jacques uses genre not as escapism but as a critical tool to interrogate identity, language, power, and place. His films are rooted in South African realities, yet imaginatively expansive. Whether through folklore, psychological tension, or speculative narratives, he brings forward stories that are rarely told with style and urgency.
Currently, Jacques is developing a proof-of-concept anthology short that reimagines the origins of South African folktales for a contemporary screen audience. He is also writing a feature-length script following the journey of a homeless man surviving in the streets of Gqeberha, another project blending social realism with poetic form.