Ellen: Die Ellen Pakkies Storie

Ellen: Die Ellen Pakkies Storie

Ellen: Die Ellen Pakkies Storie (English title Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story; also rendered Ellen: Die storie van Ellen Pakkies) is a 2018 South African Afrikaans feature film directed by Daryne Joshua, based on the real-life case of Ellen Pakkies.

The film

Based on a sensational true story set on the Cape Flats, the film portrays Ellen Pakkies, the desperate mother who killed her drug addicted son, and the court case that followed. The screenplay was written by Amy Jephta and the film directed by Daryne Joshua (who also directed Nommer 37), with Jill Levenberg, Jarrid Geduld, Elton Landrew, Clint Brink and Ilse Klink in the leading roles. The cast also included St John Alexandre, Anray Aminsure, Abbi Crail, Amrain Ismail-Essop, Hurman Louw, Carmen Maarman, Gershwin Mias, Russel Savadier, Grant Swanby and Liande Valentyn.

It was produced by Paulo Areal and Schalk Willem Burger for the Moving Billboard Picture Company, in collaboration with M-Net, kykNET Films and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and distributed by Filmfinity, with music by Quinn Lubbe, cinematography by Zenn van Zyl and film editing by C.A. van Aswegen. Running approximately 123 minutes, it was released in South Africa on 7 September 2018.

Awards and festivals

At the 2018 kykNET Silwerskerm Festival the film won three awards: Best Actress (Jill Levenberg), Best Actor (Jarrid Geduld) and Best Scriptwriter (Amy Jephta). In 2019 Jarrid Geduld won the South African Film and Television Award (Golden Horn) for Best Actor in a Feature Film for his performance, and also won Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 15th Africa Movie Academy Awards, where the film received several nominations. The film was also screened internationally at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and the 44th Seattle International Film Festival.

Sources

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7925418/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen:_The_Ellen_Pakkies_Story

Leon van Nierop. 2018. "Waarheid oof Vlakte slaan 'n harde hou" (title as printed in ESAT; exact wording to be confirmed). Rapport Beleef. 9 September: p. 11.

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