Darrell James Roodt (born in Johannesburg, 28 April 1962) is a South African film director, screenwriter and producer. He is probably most well known for his 1992 film Sarafina! which starred actress Whoopi Goldberg.[2] Roodt has worked with the late Patrick Swayze in Father Hood, James Earl Jones in Cry, the Beloved Country and Ice Cube in Dangerous Ground.

Darrell Roodt
Born
Darrell James Roodt

(1962-04-28) 28 April 1962 (age 62)
NationalitySouth African
CitizenshipSouth African
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, producer[1]
Years active1985–present
Known forSarafina!

Early life

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Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Darrell James Roodt grew up during the height of apartheid-era South Africa. His early films like Place of Weeping strongly condemned apartheid. Roodt was astounded that no one was addressing the conditions of apartheid through the medium of film, thus Place of Weeping is considered to be the first overtly anti-apartheid film made by a South African. Roodt is quoted as saying "I didn’t do it from a leftist, agit-prop point of view, rather, I tried to explore characters caught up in quagmire of those turbulent times. Consequently I was never celebrated (for want of a better word) as a leftist film-maker."[3]

Awards and festivals

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His film Sarafina! was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.[4] His 2012 film Little One was selected as the South African entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.[5]

His 2007 film Meisie won best film at the KKNK film festival in March 2008.

Roodt has won an EIUC Award at the Venice Film Festival (2004) and the Taormina Arte Award at the Taormina International Film Festival (2000)[6]

His film Yesterday (2004) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Foreign Film (2005).

Filmography

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As director

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References

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  1. ^ "Darrell Roodt". Imdb.
  2. ^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Treurgrond interview".
  4. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Sarafina". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  5. ^ Vourlias, Christopher (28 September 2012). "S. Africa picks 'Little One' for Oscar nom". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Who is Darryl Roodt". Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  7. ^ "SARAFINA - Festival de Cannes". www.festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  8. ^ Dracula 3000, retrieved 11 June 2022
  9. ^ a b c d e "Roodt finds fertile ground in Karoo - Movies | Tonight". IOL.co.za. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Seun: 81457397BG". Imdb.
  11. ^ The Lullaby (2017) - IMDb, retrieved 5 September 2021
  12. ^ The Furnace (2019) - IMDb, retrieved 5 September 2021
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