Eric Abraham

Eric Abraham (born March 1954) is a South African-British producer and former journalist and activist. Born and raised in South Africa, he moved in 1977 to England, where he lived in exile for 15 years for his reporting in opposition to the South African apartheid government in the press. He has since worked in theatre and screen, co-founding the London-based Portobello Productions as well as Cape Town's Isango Portobello and Fugard Theatre.

Early life and education Abraham was born in the Wynberg area of Cape Town, South Africa, and grew up in Rondebosch. His father was a naval commander who had arrived in South Africa from Hungary before World War II to escape antisemitism. Abraham attended South African College High School, where he participated in school productions and ran a film society. He received a Spectemur Agendo Award from the school in 2019 for his contributions to civil liberties and the performing arts.

Abraham studied Law at the University of Cape Town, but has said that he was "hardly ever at lectures because there was something more important in those days" as a student union leader and activist.

Career He began his career in journalism, setting up the South African News Agency (SANA) as a correspondent on human rights abuses and black politics in South Africa for foreign press outlets such as the BBC and The Guardian. He was placed under a five-year banning order and house arrest by the apartheid government in 1976 for his reporting. After receiving death threats, Abraham fled South Africa to Botswana clandestinely with external help in January 1977. He could not return to his home country until apartheid ended, and he was granted political asylum in the UK, where he found a job as a producer for the BBC television programme Panorama.

He went on to become a successful film and theatre producer, with several successful productions including the Academy Award-winning Kolya (1996). He was founding producer of the Fugard Theatre in the District Six area of Cape Town (2010 to 2021), which served as a home for the Isango Portobello Company. Abraham's notable productions included a revival of the pioneering 1959 musical King Kong that launched the international careers of Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela among others; Abraham's new production opened in 2017 at the Fugard Theatre and was subsequently staged at the Nelson Mandela Theatre in Johannesburg.

Filmography Film Bintley's Mozart (1987) – documentary Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin (1994) Kolya (1996) Mojo (1997) The War Zone (1999) Dark Blue World (2001) Birthday Girl (2001) Empties (2007) Quiet Chaos (2008) Kooky (2010) The Forgiveness of Blood (2011) Ida (2013) Three Brothers (2014) Moffie (2019) Bethlehem Night (2022) Four Mothers (2024) The Smell of Apples (2026)

Television Panorama, BBC (1981–1983) – 7 episodes Seal Morning (1986) – 6 episodes ScreenPlay (1986) – 1 episode Lost Belongings (1987) – Miniseries Danny, the Champion of the World (1989) – television film Othello (1989) – television film The Maestro and the Diva (1990) – documentary A Murder of Quality (1991) – television film Still Life at the Penguin Cafe (1991) – television film True Tilda (1997) Dalziel and Pascoe (1997–1998) — 11 episodes Falls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard (2012) – documentary