{"id":15281,"date":"2022-05-19T14:10:58","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T12:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=15281"},"modified":"2022-05-19T14:11:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T12:11:00","slug":"stream-the-two-biggest-local-box-office-hits-of-2021-on-showmax-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2022\/05\/19\/stream-the-two-biggest-local-box-office-hits-of-2021-on-showmax-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Stream The Two Biggest Local Box Office Hits Of 2021 On Showmax Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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May 2022 has been a banner month for African content on Showmax, with Africa & I<\/em> winning Best First Feature Documentary at The Pan African Film and Arts Festival; The Real Housewives of Lagos <\/em>trending at #1 on Twitter in Nigeria; and Living The Dream With Somizi S5<\/em>, The Wife S2<\/em> finale and The Real Housewives of Durban S2 <\/em>reunion all trending at #1 on Twitter in South Africa.
But there are many more local gems to watch on Showmax this month, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BARAKAT<\/strong> | Stream now
The most-watched local film at the South African box office in 2021, Barakat <\/em>was South Africa\u2019s official submission for Best International Feature at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022. This made Amy Jephta (Skemerdans, Late Bloomer<\/em>) the fourth female director to be submitted to the Oscars by South Africa, and the first woman of colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barakat<\/em> follows Muslim widow Aisha Davids as she tries to bring together her fractured family over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news about her new romance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the aging matriarch, Vinette Ebrahim (Skemerdans<\/em>) won Best Actress at Silwerskerm 2022. Her four sons, still struggling to come to terms with the death of their father two years earlier, are played by Joey Rasdien (Material<\/em>, New Material<\/em>), Mortimer Williams (Erfsondes<\/em>), Keeno-Lee Hector (The Riviera<\/em>) and Danny Ross (Nommer 37<\/em>). The cast also includes SAFTA winners Quanita Adams (Forgiveness<\/em>), SAFTA nominees Bonnie Mbuli (Noughts & Crosses<\/em>, The Republic<\/em>) and Leslie Fong (Isidingo<\/em>), as well as June van Merch (Sara se Geheim<\/em>), who won Best Supporting Actress at Silwerskerm 2022, where Barakat<\/em> also took home Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Costume Design and Production Design, making it this year\u2019s biggest winner at the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The touching film has won 13 awards so far, including 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. New Frame<\/em> praises it as \u201ca layered, intimate and infinitely human story about family that provides a powerful counter-narrative to Muslim stereotypes\u201d while Rapport<\/em>\u2019s Leon van Nierop celebrates it as \u201ca jewel that shines in its humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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