Immediate Release:
AWARD-WINNING BARAKAT IS SOUTH AFRICA'S OFFICIAL SELECTION FOR THE 94th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (OSCARS) INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM CATEGORY
8 November 2021: The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), is pleased to announce that the South African Muslim film (shot entirely in the Afrikaans language), Barakat, has been selected as South Africa's official submission for the 94th Annual Academy Awards.
Directed by Amy Jephta and produced by Ephraim Gordon, co-founders of production companies PaperJet Films and Nagvlug Films, Barakat was released in cinemas in early 2021. The screenplay is by writing-producing team Amy Jephta and Ephraim Gordon who made their debut at South Africa's 2017 kykNET Silwerskerm Festival with their short film Soldaat (Soldier), for which they won Best Screenplay and Best Short.
Jephta, a celebrated theatre practitioner, director and writer, also scripted South Africa's official 2018 Golden Globes submission for Foreign Film, Ellen: The Story of Ellen Pakkies. In 2019, was also awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award for theatre. I am so proud that this film has reached as many people as it has, and to be recognised by South Africa in this way is incredibly special, said director Amy Jephta. Even after an extremely challenging year for our film industry, we're honoured that a small story about a family has connected us. Producer Ephraim Gordon added: This was totally unexpected, but it shows that everyone's hard work on this project has paid off. This film was a blessing from the beginning and continues to be. It is our barakat.
Barakat' is an Arabic word denoting blessings, abundance and prosperity. The film follows the trials and tribulations of Aisha Davids (played by veteran acress Vinette Ebrahim), a widow who has to preserve the peace between four sons struggling to come to terms with the death of their father two years after the fact. Her sons, Zunaid (Joey Rasdien), Zaid (Mortimer Williams), Yaseen (Keeno Lee Hector) and Nur (Danny Ross) return to their family home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. They've never dealt with their father's death or the void his passing has left and each son's unprocessed pain manifests in constant familial conflict, saddening their mother as she tries to move on with her own life.
The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, the 27th March 2022.
Barakat was developed in partnership with M-Net and funded in association with the NFVF, the Department of Trade Industry and Competition, Industrial Development Corporation as well as Indigenous Film Distribution, the South African distributor of the film.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-4WmEoxD8Q
Indigenous Film Distribution: www.indigenousfilm.co.za
For further information
Lerato Mokopanele
National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF)
Acting Marketing and Communications Manager
Tel: +27 11 483 0880
Leratom@nfvf.co.za
About the NFVF
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture that was created to ensure the equitable growth of South Africas film and video industry. The NFVF does this by providing funding for the development, production, marketing, and distribution of films and the training and development of filmmakers. In addition, the NFVF commissions research and produces industry statistics that provide both the public and stakeholders with valuable insights into the South African film industry.
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