Barakat

PG
Drama, Comedy

When matriarch Aisha Davids decides to accept a marriage proposal, she devises a plan to break the news to her four sons over Eid. The only problem is that the two eldest sons have been at loggerheads since their father passed and refused to be in the same room at the same time. Her big reveal is spoiled when the boys hear via the grapevine about their mother’s pending nuptials and come together to voice their disapproval of the match. Now it’s up to Aisha, her fiance and her daughters in law to bring the sons around to her way of thinking using the one thing they can all agree on – the barakat.

Director-Amy Jephta

Cast & Crew Members

Vinette Ebrahim, Leslie Fong, June van Merch, Joey Rasdien, Danny Ross, Keeno-Lee Hector, Mortimer Williams, Quanita Adams, Bonnie Mbuli

Director's Statement

Barakat started as a comedy and ended up being about grief. At first sight, we appeared to want to tell a lighthearted story about a family of feuding brothers brought together to sabotage their mother’s love life. What the film actually wanted to be about, is how we deal with the loss of one of our own – in this case, a father and patriarch.The story became about a family grappling with a legacy that has left an empty seat at their table.For me, it is about how we honour familial, collective memory even as life moves on.That difficulty, of ‘moving on’ from the death of a loved one, is a universal theme that speaks to our humanity anywhere in the world. Perhaps that’s why the story we gravitated toward telling was to explore and unpack that grief.But sometimes, pain manifests in absurdity or comedy.And for the Davids family, healing exists at the intersection of conflict, tradition, culture and food.A family forced to confront absence is the heart and the compass here. It is the story we are actually telling.

Women Of The Lens

Dedicated to Independent Film

about Us

Part of the ethos of Women Of The Lens is to support the learning and progress of those wanting to make head-way into the industry of film, broadcast and digital media.

Networking

Meeting people in the flesh is an important part of developing knowledge, contacts, influence and longevity in any industry. 

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This