Congratulations are in order for actress Terry Pheto and the rest of the team behind the Ayanda movie for getting their groundbreaking film picked up for distribution in the US by ARRAY Distribution. This marks an incredible milestone for the film as the distribution company is headed by famed director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay, who recently worked on Selma with talk show doyen Oprah Winfrey.
Pheto, who worked on the Sara Blecher-directed flick as a producer, first broke the news of her Instagram page last week and had this to say about the first female African American director to have a film nominated for the Academy award for Best Picture: “Ava DuVernay has long been a promoter and distributor of black independent films. DuVernay herself recognises this and is proving to be a force to help bring about needed change.”
Ayanda, the coming-of-age film, is set to open on South African circuits later this month but has already bowled audiences over at the Cannes and Los Angeles Film Festivals. The movie also opened this year’s Durban International Film Festival where CliffCentral.com partnered with Terry Pheto for the Leading Lady Lounge (find out more about our media partnership HERE).
We can’t wait for the rest of the world to see this local production – well done Terry and team!
