Barakat is a must-see South African film
Stalwart of South African screens Vinette Ebrahim plays Aisha Davids, a widow of two years who is preparing to tell her four sons she wants to remarry. Barakat plays out over the days before Eid-ul-Fitr, also affectionately known as
Labarang in Cape Town. The opening scenes were surreal to me. I have lived in the area Barakat was shot in for most of my later childhood years, and still live here. I sat in awe seeing my childhood park and a famous tikka shop in the frames.
Aisha is apprehensive about the announcement, as her fiance is a non-Muslim man- Dr Albertus “Bertie” Meyer (Leslie Fong). Aisha and Bertie are so plausible as an older couple finding love again with each other; you really do believe their courtship and subsequent engagement.