Teen PI's hunt for dog shines

WRITER: 'I HAD TO SHOW THE OTHER FACE OF CAPE FLATS'

- Hein Kaiser

A neighbourhood dog, a missing brother and a 16-year-old detective with more grit than gadgets — that is the story in Finding Optel.

It's one of the local productions at this year's Silwerskerm Festival and the debut entry of 25-year-old Capetonian screenwriter, actress and director Mikhayla Brown.

She's the youngest director in this year's pack of entries.

Brown co-directed the film with her brother Jesse.

She also stars as Claire Abrahams, the teen sleuth who hunts for lost things.

When the community's dog disappears, Abrahams takes on her biggest neighbourhood case, finding Optel, aka the dog.

"I wanted to write a detective story through the eyes of a quirky girl," Brown said.

"The idea came from my grandfather's pavement special dog called Optel.

"He was naughty, always chasing cars, and I never liked him. But he stayed with me, and the memories became the story."

Born and raised in the Western Cape she spent part of her youth in Parow, later Durbanville.

Film, or the performing arts for that matter, was always in her makeup.

"My brother and I made little movies on his old Samsung phone," she said.