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South African cinema is still catching up to the diversity of the population it represents: a congregation of cultures, languages and religions that got ironed out in the popular imagination by the white supremacist politics of the apartheid era. The country’s significant Cape Muslim, or Cape Malay, population is one demographic that has traditionally received short shrift on screen, a context that makes Amy Jephta’s hearty, fractious family comedy “Barakat” more of a milestone than its relatively modest storytelling might suggest. Following four adult brothers upended by news of their widowed mother’s plans to remarry, the film may skirt cliché in its broad depiction of fragile masculinity versus women’s intuition, but ultimately thrives on its vivid social and linguistic particularities.

The first film by a woman of color ever to be selected as South Africa’s Oscar submission, “Barakat” has played a number of diasporic and African-specific international festivals,...

A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...