Whistleblower story wins Best African Film award
After taking home the Best South African Film accolade at the Durban International Film Festival for his father son road trip comedy Runs in the Family, Giant Films director Ian Gabriel has done it again, this time honoured with the 2024 Best African Film accolade for his film Death of a Whistleblower at the Joburg Film Festival Gala award evening this past Saturday.
Hollywood’s Variety says: “Ian Gabriel’s topical political thriller Death of a Whistleblower premiered in Toronto, follows an investigative journalist who, with insider help, tries to expose the state capture of a corrupt South African security group fueling warfare in Africa and beyond. The film’s African premiere opened to thunderous applause in Johannesburg and quickly shot to the top of Amazon Prime Video’s local charts with its same-day release."
“This brave and important story highlights the plight faced by journalists in their often dangerous and uncharted quest to expose the truth,” said the Joburg Film Festival jury. “The fast-paced political thriller gives urgency to the matter of whistleblowing in South Africa.”
“There’s always been a struggle for the truth in South Africa – in the past, and now,” says Gabriel, "perhaps that is what defines us as a nation. Yes we are a rainbow nation of many cultures, but finding our moral compass within the multiplicity of our cultures, that's clearly the road we need to follow… our history in 1994 demanded that of us. We need to step up to the plate now, in 2024."
Death of a Whistleblower is streaming on Amazon Prime whilst Gabriel’s film Runs in the Family, is streaming on Netflix worldwide. Runs in the Family is a nominee in the Outstanding Film category (streaming and TV) for the 35th annual GLAAD awards in New York in May. GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination and Disinformation) is a major worldwide media monitoring organisation based in the USA.
Gabriel is in pre prep on an eighties disco thriller based on fabled real life Joburg disco personality Granny Lee. He will co-direct the film with his writer/director/actor son Gabe Gabriel in the third quarter of 2024 with Known Associates Entertainment’s producers Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri and Moroba Nkawe, reprising their successful creative partnership established for Death of a Whistleblower.
