Barakat: The Movie is set for a Hollywood debut as it’s been selected as South Africa’s pick for the Oscar’s next year.
The National Film & Video Foundation goes through a selection process of forwarding a film from the South African big screen that can be considered for an Academy Award nomination.
The movie is filmed in Afrikaaps and follows the ups and downs of Aisha Davids – a Muslim widow trying her best to keep her family together. Barakat: The Movie was written by Amy Jephta who won the Standard Bank Young Artist of The Year for Theatre Award in 2019.
With this selection, Jephta becomes only the fourth female director to have her film submitted for an Oscar nomination and the first woman of colour to have this accolade.
The cast has also been celebrating this accolade, actor, and musician Keeno Lee tweeted: “I cannot express how proud I am of this moment, from the 1st movie about Muslim people in Afrikaaps to SA’s submission for Oscar contention!! Congratulations to my Barakat family!”
Channel 24 reports that Barakat: The Movie has already raked in some awards, including the Best International Feature at the 2021 Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema and Best Narrative Feature at both the Motion Pictures International Film Festival and The Reel Sisters Of The Diaspora Festival in 2020
Now the wait starts in earnest to see if Barakat: The Movie will be put on the nominations lists. The nominations for the 2021 Academy Awards will be announced on 8 February next year
The glitzy ceremony takes place on Sunday 27 March 2022.
