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Yesterday lives in Rooihoek, a remote village in South Africa's Zululand. Her everyday life is not easy – there's little money, no modern conveniences, and her husband is away in Johannesburg working as a miner – but she possesses a sunny nature, and takes great joy in her 7-year-old daughter, Beauty.
The precarious balance of Yesterday's life is suddenly threatened when she is diagnosed with AIDS, and must journey afar to understand and confront her illness. Yesterday's motivating force is her love for Beauty, who is a year away from starting school. Yesterday never had the chance to go to school herself, and so she sets her sights on a single goal: to be with Beauty on her first day of class, along with all the other proud mothers.
Set against the awesome, harsh landscapes of South Africa, YESTERDAY is an eloquent, unsentimental and beautiful film that quietly builds an overwhelming emotional force. The sure hand of writer/director Darrell James Roodt (Cry, the Beloved Country, Sarafina!) makes Yesterday’s world and her story both authentic and compelling. Above all, the film resonates from the heartbreakingly beautiful face of lead actress Leleti Khumalo, who plays Yesterday.
The first international film ever made in the Zulu language, YESTERDAY is a story of courage, compassion and hope, set in contemporary South Africa ten years after the arrival of democracy.
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