How is South Africa's 'Barakat’ breaking boundaries?

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Published Nov 16, 2021

The story of Aisha and her sons could be anyone’s story. The matriarch, recently widowed, tries to bring her fractured family together over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news of a new romance with a Christian man. Her four sons, each struggling to come to terms with the death of their father, refuse to accept the new relationship.

But the movie that features their story, ‘Barakat’, is special in many ways.

Barakat, which means blessings in Arabic, is told in Afrikaaps, a widely spoken Cape Town dialect of the Afrikaans language. It’s also the first film to be made entirely in the language, a mix of English, Dutch, Arabic, Malay and Afrikaans spoken by Muslims and mixed communities in the city.

The neighborhood of Cape Flats, where the story is centred, is often associated with violence, crime and drugs. Instead, the film focuses on the Coloured community and celebrates their life, culture and family bonds.

In this episode we’ll discuss ‘Barakat’ and ask why the narratives explored in the Afrikaaps language of the film are so important.

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