The Oscar-nominated film “Yesterday” will have its Georgia premiere in Athens on Monday, October 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Georgia’s Tate Student Center Theatre.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars® this year, “Yesterday” is a film about AIDS in Africa and will be hosted by HBO and Charter Communications in partnership with UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “Yesterday” will debut on HBO on Monday, November 28, at 9 p.m. (ET).
Sanctioned by Nelson Mandela and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, “Yesterday” is the first major film for international release to be shot completely in the Zulu language. It was shot on location in the Kwazulu Natal and Gauteng in South Africa in October 2004. The film was written and directed by Darrell James Roodt and produced by Anant Singh and Helena Spring, the creative team responsible for both “Cry, the Beloved Country” and “Sarafina.”
Set in contemporary South Africa ten years after the arrival of democracy, “Yesterday” is a story of courage, compassion and hope that puts a human face on the politics and statistics of the AIDS crisis by following the struggles of a young mother named Yesterday who has been diagnosed with AIDS. Leleti Khumalo (“Sarafina”) stars in the title role of the film.
Following the 93-minute screening of “Yesterday,” there will be a conversation drawing the parallels of HIV/AIDS in the American South and in South Africa. Moderating the discussion will be Patricia Thomas, Knight Chair for Health and Medical Journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Participants will include Eva Hansen, AID Atlanta Speakers Bureau, a retired school teacher and a 23-year survivor of HIV; and Will Taylor, professor from UGA’s Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences.
The Peabody Awards, administered by UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, are the oldest honor in television and radio. Today they recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. For more information about the Peabody Awards visit: http://www.peabody.uga.edu
###
