Yesterday wins Peabody Award

"The Peabody Award is a great honour for Yesterday, especially as it is considered to be the Pulitzer Prize of broadcasting," said producer, Anant Singh. "It is a thrill for us to have a small film from South Africa, in isiZulu, bestowed with this great honour. It is a testament to Darrell James Roodt who wrote and directed the film and the entire Yesterday team."

Singh was with Quincy Jones, doyen of the American music and entertainment industry when he received news of the Peabody Award. Commenting on the Award, Jones said, "The Peabody Awards is a big deal, and very respected all around the world. The Award is not often conferred on feature films and I am thrilled for Yesterday. Congratulations to all, it is a wonderful film."

The Peabody Awards, which are administered by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, is widely considered to be the Pulitzer Prize of broadcasting and recognises distinguished achievement in electronic media. This follows the broadcast of Yesterday in the United States on World AIDS day last year.

This year, the Peabody Awards honoured recipients from three continents and in seven languages which reflect the international scope of the competition. Yesterday, was described "as a South African film that personalised Africa's AIDS crisis."

Yesterday is a Videovision Entertainment production in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, M-Net, The National Film And Video Foundation and Distant Horizon. It was shot on location in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Produced by Anant Singh and Helena Spring, executive producers were Sudhir Pragjee and Sanjeev Singh, and the music was composed by Madala Kunene.