Darrell Roodt


Darrell James Roodt 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. Also regarded as South Africa's most prolific film director, 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.

Early life

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 as a leftist film-maker."

Awards and festivals

His film Sarafina! was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. 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.
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 and the Taormina Arte Award at the Taormina International Film Festival
His film Yesterday was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Foreign Film.

Filmography

As director