Before the local industry had even seen a frame, Robin de Jager’s new film ‘Lil_ith’ was already making noise internationally. It premiered at the Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying Odense International Film Festival and QFest St. Louis, a rare feat for a South African indie, especially one made entirely by bootstrap grit and obsessive care. Combine that with his growing commercial portfolio and the production backing of Triple Story Content, and it’s exactly why Robin should be on your director radar.

Spend even ten minutes with Robin and it’s obvious – he’s fuelled by curiosity, community, and the people he works alongside. He cares deeply about the stories that he tells. His filmmaking is textured, character-driven, and rooted in the worlds people actually live in. But equally as significant is that Robin’s energy is infectious, and his enthusiasm for filmmaking rubs off on everyone around him. He’s deeply intentional, passionate about people, and genuinely lit up by collaboration. 

Robin didn’t come up through the usual commercial track; he’s worked across so many corners of the industry, and that’s his edge as a filmmaker, bringing a wealth of understanding of the entire filmmaking process. He’s the Fine Arts kid from Wits who spent his early years absorbed in Joburg’s undercurrents: the misfits, the nightlife, the queer spaces, the messy, after-hours parts of the city that most people overlook. That curiosity evolved into a career that zigzagged through art department, research, post-production, creative strategy, animation, international commercial work, documentary, and eventually a Master’s in Film exploring South Africa’s underground ‘new wave’ film movement. 

As Triple Story EP Monareng Makwetla puts it, “I can plug Robin into any stage of a project whether it’s strategy, writing, directing or edit, and he elevates it. He just gets how all the pieces fit.”