Producer, Anant Singh announced today that the ground-breaking isiZulu feature film, Yesterday which is South Africa’s Official Entry for the 2005 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film Category, will have a gala screening at the 35th International Film Festival of India in Goa on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2004. This screening will be hosted by Indian Megastar Amitabh Bachchan. Singh also announced that Yesterday will have a Special Screening at the American Film Institute Festival in Los Angeles on 10 November 2004.
The International Film Festival of India is the country’s premiere film festival which aims at providing a platform for world cinema and promoting excellence in the art of film while contributing to the understanding and appreciation of people and cultures from around the world. Yesterday is a perfect fit for the Festival as it focuses on critical social issues, especially of the role of women in society and HIV / AIDS, hence the screening on World AIDS Day.
The American Film Institute Festival is one of America’s fastest-growing film events and the leading international film festival in Los Angeles. The Festival is designed to provide new and established filmmakers with a crucial avenue of exposure to the Los Angeles film community, while celebrating the accomplishments filmmakers from around the world.
Producer of Yesterday, Anant Singh commented, “We are delighted to be taking Yesterday to the Indian International Film Festival and to be presenting it on World AIDS Day. The film has a special relevance to India as it highlights issues that women in developing countries have to deal with and celebrates the strength of women in the face of adversity and the stigmatization of HIV / AIDS. India is also faced with a huge HIV / AIDS problem and we hope that Yesterday will have some impact on the Indian audience. We are also thrilled that our friend, Amitabh Bachchan has agreed to host the screening of Yesterday at the Indian International Film Festival. The American Film Institute Festival gives Yesterday exposure in the important United States market which will benefit the film tremendously and, judging from the reactions at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, we are confident that it will be well received.”
Yesterday is a Videovision Entertainment production in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, M-Net, The National Film And Video Foundation, Distant Horizon and was shot on location in KwaZulu Natal. Music was composed by Madala Kunene and it is executive produced by Sudhir Pragjee and Sanjeev Singh, produced by Anant Singh and Helena Spring and written and directed by Darrell James Roodt.
