Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
01 March 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied
Carel Nel will star in the upcoming fantasy horror movie, Gaia.

He has been in more than 40 international and national films, and has worked with the likes of Ridley Scott and Deon Opperman. These are just some of the achievements that Carel Nel, alumnus of the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of the Free State (UFS), has mastered in his young career. For him, it is all about hard work, patience, and believing in yourself. 

Nel says the time he spent studying drama at the UFS moulded him into the excellent actor he is today. During his undergraduate study, he was fortunate to be mentored by well-known actor, Gerben Kamper, theatre maestro, Prof Nico Luwes, and drama lecturer, Steph Brink. “They gave me the foundation I needed to go out into the real world and to make my dream of being a full-time actor a reality. I will always be grateful to them,” Nel says. 

In 2016 and 2017, he won the KykNet Silwerskerm Festival Best Actor award, and has won and been nominated for numerous film and theatre awards. 

Latest movie to premiere at SXSW film festival 

Nel’s latest role is that of Barend in the Jaco Bouwer fantasy horror film Gaia. The film will have its world premiere at the SXSW film festival on 16 March 2021 in Austin, Texas. “He (Barend) is a survivalist who turned his back on society more than a decade ago, a former academic who has willingly embraced a Neolithic lifestyle,” Nel says. 

There was uncertainty about the film, as production got suspended on the seventh day of filming due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Filming of Gaia resumed in late June 2020. “This is why we are extremely proud that Gaia will have its world premiere at the SXSW film festival,” says Nel.  

Apart from all his noteworthy projects, he was very fortunate to have worked with Ridley Scott on ‘Raised by wolves.’  “I played Karl, the android, and had to go through about five hours of makeup and prosthetics every day, and while shooting, was suspended by chains from the set. My other notable project was working in the remake of the 1977 classic, Roots.

            

Portraying historical figures ‘is daunting’ 

He has an uncanny resemblance to Abraham Lincoln and actually had the opportunity to play Lincoln in the History Channel mini-series, Grant. He had to do some research in preparation for his role because there is no video or audio recording of Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln had a very distinct voice and Nel learned that the voice of Daniel Day-Lewis, the British actor who played Lincoln in the 2012 biopic ‘Lincoln ’, is as historically correct as possible. “I therefore used his voice almost as a historical reference for mine; it’s always very daunting when you play a historical or actual person,” Nel says. 

In 2017, he had the opportunity to play Prof Christiaan Barnard in Hartstog, a Deon Opperman film about the first heart transplant in South Africa . 

Carel Nel has become a well-known face on South African television and on the international big screen and he believes that a “good actor tells the truth and understands that it’s not about him/her or they, but about the story they are telling”. It is thus evident that Carel Nel is a ‘Hollywood’ A-lister to be.

 

Watch the Gaia movie trailer here:

News Archive

Kovsies reign FNB Superbowl
2007-05-10

The FNB Super Bowl took place from 26 – 30 April in Potchefstroom.
The Kovsies reigned the tournament in their respective categories.
It was an absolute mega Intervarsity. The following tournaments took place in which Kovsies was represented.
 
Senior rugby tournament
The Shimlas won their first game against TUT 33-0
In the Semi-final Shimlas lost against Pukke 17-8.
The Shimlas played for third and fourth place against Tukkies and won the game 41-19. Which secured them the third place in the tournament.
 
The following teams participated in the tournament
Pukke, UJ, Shimlas, Tukkies, Maties, NMMU, TUT, UCT
 
SA Students team
The following Shimlas were selected for the SA student games:
Steph Roberts (prop)
Drikus Strydom (hooker)
Philip Steyn (lock)
Marlin Ruiters (Scrumhalf)
Marcel du Toit (flyhalf)
 
Pharmaton Junior Rugby Tournament
The Kovsies u/21 & u/19 teams won their respective tournaments. It is a wonderful accomplishment for the University. The following teams took part in the tournament: Kovsies, Pukke, Tukkies and UJ.
 
u/21 results
Won Pukke 12-11
Won UJ 22-18
Won Tukkies 47-16
 
u/19 results
Won UJ 9-8
Won Pukke 25-13
Won Tukkies 25-16
 
Hostel Rugby Tournament
Reitz and Armentum represented Kovsies. These two teams played against each other in the final which Reitz won 47-0. To have both our hostel teams in the final is an outstanding accomplishment for Kovsies.
The following Universities took park: Kovsies, Pukke, Tukkies and UJ
 
Reitz results
Won Sonop (UJ): 27-7
Won Patria (Pukke): 11-10
Bastion (Tukkies): withdraw
Won Armentum in the final: 47-0
 
Armentum results
Won Overs (Pukke): 15-7
Won Afslaan: 49-12
Won Boekenhout: 43-0
Lost against Reitz in the final: 47-0
 
Hostel Soccer
Veritas represented Kovsies and won Kiaat from Tukkies in the final with 3-1 after a penalty shoot-out.
 
Hostel Netball
Vergeet-my-nie and Emily Hobhouse represented Kovsies. Vergeet-my-nie lost in the final against Wanda from Pukke17-14.
 
Hostel Cricket
Vishuis lost in the final against Villagers from Pukke with 5 wickets.
 
Hostel Hockey
Wag-‘n-Bietjie and Vergeet-my-nie represented Kovsies. Unfortunetly none of them went through to the finals.
 
 We won most of the games against the strongest Universities in the country is an outstanding accomplishment for Kovsies.
 
Compiled by
Ansu Colditz
Rugby Manager

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept