The film Barakat, produced by Ephraim Gordon (Head Boy of Bridge House in 2005), has received numerous awards, including receiving 13 nominations and walking away with the following awards at the Idyllwild Film Festival in LA: Best International Feature Film; Best Ensemble Cast; Best Supporting Actor for Mortimer Williams; Mary Austin Award for Excellence in Directing and Best Original Score. Most recently it has been selected as the South African entry for the Best International Feature Film at the Oscars. This is a massive accolade for Ephraim and his colleagues who worked on the film.
Ephraim Gordon joined Bridge House as a bursary student in Grade 8 and established himself as a leader from the beginning. He was elected Head Boy at Bridge House in 2005 and at the end of his Matric year, his peers described him as having made “a momentous impact on our lives.” He was awarded the Bridge House Values award, one of the top awards at Bridge House, and the Fellowship Award, which is determined by a vote of all the College students. Ephraim went on to achieve a degree in Theatre and Performance from the University of Cape Town in 2009 and has won many awards and achieved major successes in the field of acting, producing and directing for stage, TV and film.
Ephraim said that at Bridge House, he had the opportunity of going on an international exchange and it was then that his idea of the world changed; his view expanded; he made friends from other parts of the world and realised for the very first time that the world was his oyster waiting for him to claim his place in it. He said that with the advantage of an excellent education, he was encouraged to do everything in his power to use all the tools at his disposal to change his world. As a young film director and producer, he tries do exactly that – tell stories that in some way contribute to changing the world. Ephraim has always followed his dreams and worked extremely hard. We are holding thumbs for an Oscar for Ephraim.