Amy Jephta

An aging matriarch aims to bring together her fractured, dysfunctional family over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news about her new romance.

An aging matriarch aims to bring together her fractured, dysfunctional family over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news about her new romance.

Based on true events, Ellen tells of the troubled relationship between a mother and her drug-addicted son - a relationship that will eventually drive her to the edge and lead to his murder. In 2007, the death of 20 year old Abie Pakkies created a stir in South Africa and the world. The most disturbing part of the case was that the murderer was his mother, Ellen. When advocate Adrian Samuels takes on the case, he is determined to prove that Ellen Pakkies had no choice. But what compelled her to stop seeking help? How does a mother become desperate enough to take her own son's life? Told across two timelines, Ellen is the harrowing account of a woman put through the penal system, tried for murder and driven by an unflinching love for her son. It delves into the inner psyche of a family ravaged by drugs in one of the most dangerous communities in South Africa. A scourge that extends beyond the Cape Flats and highlights a systematic failure to protect the poorest of the poor.

Anya du Plessis returns to Philadelphia, South Africa from New York to repair the fractious relationship with her father Marius, and to help with the struggling farm. She finds her father's crutch for dealing with her mother's passing, is an obsession with his beer brewing hobby, he believes is the answer to their financial woes. When leaving New York, Anya is also leaving behind Jacob, her boyfriend and work colleague, and the last thing she expects is to fall for a suave, charming stranger. Ruan is on a mission from his Brewing Company, to identify a new winning beer recipe with which to enter the annual craft beer competition, and comes across Marius' farm and special brew, the only thing standing in his path to craft beer glory, is the feisty daughter of the farmer.