cast and the Director of âTsotsiâ for winning an Oscar as the best foreign
film
06 March 2006
The South African film industry has once again done the country proud. On
Sunday, 5 March 2006, the film âTsotsiâ, won an Academy Award in the category
of Best Foreign Film.
I want the cast and production team of the acclaimed movie âTsotsiâ to know
that I and millions of other South Africans salute them for the splendid and
challenging contribution they have made to indigenous African film making.
Their achievement has revealed to the world, and the United States of
America (USA) in particular, that South African talent - as evidenced by
award-winning actress and second-time Oscar nominee, Charlize Theron, for
example - not only has the potential to stand tall and compete as equals with
our international counterparts, but is also of world class.
First the nomination and then the winning of an Oscar by âTsotsiâ will be
seen by future generations as the watershed of world perceptions of South
African film, our film industry and our actors.
It is a great honour that our creative artists have received much deserved
recognition at the heart of the worldâs leading film and cinema community as
the Best Foreign Film.
International film audiences have been voting for South African films with
their wallets and their feet. Before receiving the ultimate accolade, âTsotsiâ
won critical acclaim because its story line resonates with the experience of
human kind. The film, though uniquely South African, has a universal appeal.
Its road to the Oscar has been paved with numerous other awards.
For the third year in succession South African films have earned
international acclaim. In addition to âYesterdayâ, which won the Human Rights
award at the Venice Film Festival during 2004, âThe Zulu Love-Letterâ, which
won the Silver Award at the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, âuCarmen
eKhayelitshaâ won the best film award at the Berlin Film Festival, âHotel
Rwandaâ won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Toronto Film Festival, and
âMax and Monaâ won laurels at Ouagadogou, in Burkina Faso in 2005.
This film, shot in the streets of Johannesburg and based on a novel by the
South African playwright, Athol Fugard, is yet another milestone in development
and growth of our film industry. These achievements on the world silver screens
are indicative of the potential of South African film and the immense treasure
house of skill to be found among South African directors, scriptwriters, film
makers, actors, composers, set designers and costume designers.
It is the view of this Ministry that the drama that unfolded in South
Africaâs past, and the amazing stories we are living through in our present,
offer the story-teller â whether on stage, the screen, or the written word - a
wealth of material waiting for skilled artists to transform it into great
art.
In congratulating the team involved in making the film I am particularly
pleased that the efforts of the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) and the
National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) to promote and create an enabling
environment for South African film is bearing fruit.
âTsotsiâ depicts the triumph of the human spirit; it is about redemption and
atonement. It is a tale about the human degradation occasioned by crime, but is
also about the redeeming qualities of love, and how this emotion, so much taken
for granted, can lead a criminal, who soul seems to be lost, to rediscover his
humanity. This universal theme, realistically explored in the setting of a
South African urban township, says much both about the transcendent qualities
of art and about our shared human condition. I am certain that many other
exciting South African films will follow the brilliant success of âTsotsiâ.
The prize opens up new opportunities for South African talent to shine.
Through it we hope film-makers will become more fully aware of the outstanding
talent South Africa possesses and what magnificent landscape and scenery our
beautiful country has to offer
Apart from the actors and the film director, there are thousands of nameless
and faceless persons, who contribute to the realization of a film. We extend
our congratulations to these too.
It is the vision of the Department of Arts and Culture â working through the
Nation Film and Video Foundation â to produce and nurture a new generation of
South African story-tellers, who will take the fascinating tales of our
national experience to the world.
The Oscar coming to Africa signals the arrival of indigenous South African
film making. Today, we can truly say that we are the right path and there is no
stopping us, now!
For further details call:
Sandile Memela
Spokesman for the Minister of Arts & Culture
Cell: 082 800 3750
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
6 March 2006
