Barakat Announced as South Africa’s Official Selection for the Oscars (94th Annual Academy Awards)
The first South African Muslim film shot in Afrikaans, Barakat, has been selected as South Africa’s official submission for the 94th Annual Academy Awards (the Oscars!). It’s an award-winning film that brilliantly explores how a family moves on after the death of a father. Uniquely South African, yet absolutely universal. Watch the trailer below and […]
The first South African Muslim film shot in Afrikaans, Barakat, has been selected as South Africa’s official submission for the 94th Annual Academy Awards (the Oscars!).
It’s an award-winning film that brilliantly explores how a family moves on after the death of a father. Uniquely South African, yet absolutely universal. Watch the trailer below and you’ll be moved to both tears and laughter!
“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.
Aisha’s 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 (or Labarang, as it’s called in Cape Town), 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. Each son’s unprocessed pain manifests in constant familial conflict, saddening their mother as she tries to move on with her own life.
Comments from South Africans who’ve already seen the film include “This just confirms for me how exceptionally good our actors are!!! This makes me proud to be a Capetownian!!!!”, “Saw it at the Labia. Lovely, real performances. Funny and sad and life affirming. Congratulations to all involved, we need more stories like these” and “Must Watch”.
WATCH Barakat Official Trailer
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), made the excitement announcement on Monday. The movie was directed by Amy Jephta and produced by Ephraim Gordon, co-founders of production companies PaperJet Films and Nagvlug Film. 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, she was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award for theatre. Actor and director Gordon starred in Nosipho Dumisa’s critically acclaimed 2018 debut, Number 37, which premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW).
Barakat was developed in partnership with MNET and funded in association with the NFVF, the DTIC, IDC as well as Indigenous Film Distribution, the South African distributor of the film.
The 94th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, the 27th March 2022.
P.S. You can rent Barakat for R50 here.