Finding Optel's Zenobia Kloppers on her breakout year

Showmax has just dropped the official trailer for Finding Optel. Co-directed by 25-year-old Mikayla Joy Brown and her 30-year-old brother Jesse Brown, the charming family film will have its international premiere at the prestigious BFI London Film Festival on Saturday, 18 October 2025 and then launch on the African streamer on Friday, 24 October 2025.

Teenager Claire Abrahams runs a lost and found service where she locates anything and everything that has been misplaced. When Optel, the community dog, goes missing, Claire must confront her brother’s painful disappearance in order to solve her biggest case yet.

Watch the trailer 

Finding Optel had its South African premiere at the kykNET Silwerskerm Festival in August 2025, where the whimsical film received a standing ovation, a nomination for Paul Guyeu’s cinematography, and the Best Production Design award for Sumaya Wicomb. It’s produced by Blended Films, who were also behind the quadruple 2024 Silwerskerm winner Hier.Na.

Mikayla Joy stars in Finding Optel as Claire, supported by an all-star cast that includes Oscar Petersen as her father John and Zenobia Kloppers as Aunty Doreen, not to mention Rodney ‘Rotas’ Goliath and Sherman Pharo (both Arendsvlei), Maurice Carpede and Euodia Samson (both Summertide), Elton Landrew (Spinners, Carissa), and Omar Adams (Barakat, The Umbrella Men).

Zenobia Kloppers and Mikayla Joy Brown

To find out more, we caught up with Zenobia, a SAFTA, Silwerskerm and Africa Movie Academy Awards Best Actress nominee as Fiela in Fiela Se Kind.  

How would you describe Finding Optel?

It’s a beautiful film with beautiful people. There are so many fun moments. It’s light but it deals with serious things as well – but that is the best kind of comedy.

It is also a truly Capetonian film that depicts so-called “Cape Coloured” culture but not through the lens of gangsterism. It’s just the story of a teenage girl looking for a missing dog. Through looking for this dog, she finds answers herself and she finds peace about things that have happened. It’s wonderful to show that there's more to our people than just gangsterism.

How does Aunty Doreen fit into the story?

She’s the aunty in the community who looks after everyone and makes sure that they are all okay. She is a leader in the community and specifically with Claire, the lead character, she is a mother figure to her. She’s a mother, aunty, ouma, all-in-one kind of thing. 

What made you want to be part of Finding Optel?

Quanita Adams, one of the executive producers, is a friend of mine. We have known each other since drama school. Quanita is awesome and I have been wanting to work with her on something. 

When she called, I would have said yes to anything, even if the character was a tree. But when I read the character of Doreen, I was really happy because she is so multifaceted. She leans into the whole chatterbox persona when she’s with her friends, and then she is quite serious when she is with Claire and John. So she slots into whatever role is required of her.

Interestingly, the character reminded me a bit of my grandmother. Because you always take from what you know, and I always sit with a script and develop my character from that. I took a lot of inspiration from my gran, my mom’s mom. She was a very prudent, proper person but she was also the sort of person who looked after everybody. I have this picture of her at her place: she’s got a little green T-shirt on and she’s just kind of leaning over the vibracrete wall and chatting. She was the type of woman who knew all the neighbours.

You have played some iconic characters, like Fiela in Fiela Se Kind, Rebecca Thuli in Suidooster, Samantha in Spinners, and recently Amico Nagoyin, one of the Aes Sedai in the epic, BAFTA-nominated Wheel of Time, based on Robert Jordan’s bestselling fantasy novels. What makes Aunty Doreen different?

I’m often asked to play people from the Northern Cape so it’s nice to just play a Cape Town woman. And also in English! I rarely get to play characters who speak English.

What was your favourite scene to film? Please tell me it was the samoosa fight scene?

Actually, it was the scene where Aunty Doreen and her two friends from the community take a sunrise walk. It was really cold that morning and we had to be up early for the sunrise to come up. That was so fun to film because we were just walking fast, and the camera guy’s walking backwards, hoping he does not fall on his back, and then Maurice, one of the other actors, jumps out and he talks to us and he is also walking backwards, hoping he doesn’t land on his butt. So that was funny. And, of course, Euodia Samson is in that scene and she is hilarious. 

Mikayla Joy’s just been featured in the BFI London Film Festival trailer, alongside Oscar winners like Emma Stone, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts. She’s clearly a star in the making. What was it like working with her?

What a lovely actress; you wouldn’t think this is her first big role. She’s so natural and she plays that age very well, with so much innocence and absolute joy that it’s beautiful to see. What a talent!

This year you’ve already starred in The Wheel of Time on Prime Video and now Finding Optel is going to one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. What does this kind of international exposure mean to you?

It’s incredibly humbling. As an actor, you pour so much of yourself into each project without ever really knowing how far it will travel or whose hearts it might reach. To be part of The Wheel of Time earlier this year and now to see Finding Optel recognised on such a prestigious international stage, it feels like a reminder that our stories here in South Africa are not small – they have a place in the world.

For me, it’s also deeply personal. Every opportunity, whether on a global fantasy series or in a film rooted in our own soil, carries the responsibility of representation. International exposure means that our voices, our histories and our imaginations are being seen and heard.

What people are saying

“Heartwarming… a quirky detective story that skilfully tackles childhood grief.” The BFI London Film Festival

“This is a movie that’s a light in a dark world. It’s fresh, original, and told in such an exciting way. It does cover some heavy themes, but somehow still makes it fun without taking away from the message. From the cinematography to the characters, everything clicks, and the ending is one of the very best. This is one of those movies that will change the future of South African cinema, simply because it’s so unique.” The Movie Guy

“A must watch… Adventurous, silly and heart-felt.” Annette Havenga

“A cute whodunit with stylistic flair… A fun watch.” Joel Ontong, News24