Closing Film: BARAKAT

Sunday 8 November  | 18:00 | BFI Player & Facebook

Dir. Amy Jephta

South Africa 2020. 103 mins.

Afrikaans, English with English subtitles.

How does a family reconcile with the death of a father? That is the question at the heart of this Afrikaans Muslim film, the first of its kind, to be produced in South Africa. The weight of this question is borne by the matriarch of the family, who not only has to deal with her own feelings of loss, but hold her family together, and rebuild a life for herself. Barakat, (the Arabic word for blessings), is a story of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and acceptance.

Director’s Q&A with Amy Jephta and Film Africa Co-Curator Nyambura M. Waruingi.

Amy Jephta

A screenwriter and playwright from Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town. She has three feature film credits to her name including South Africa’s official 2018 Golden Globes submission, Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story (Rotterdam International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Toronto Black Film Festival, and others).