SA cheers first Oscar
2006-03-06 09:28
Johannesburg - South Africa celebrated
its first Oscar award for gangster film Tsotsi on Monday,
raising hopes a revival in local film-making would get a further
spark.
Cast members and supporters erupted into cheers at a local
hotel in the early hours before dawn, watching on live TV as
Tsotsi scooped the Oscar for best foreign language film.
"I think it's fantastic, it's an amazing experience for
South Africa and I am so proud to be part of this country, part
of this nomination," said one woman at the party.
The award for Tsotsi, set in Soweto,
was especially sweet after hopes were crushed last year when
South Africa lost out on its first nomination in the category,
Yesterday. Yesterday was a poignant story of a woman's
battle with Aids and the first feature film made in Zulu.
Anant Singh, co-producer of Yesterday, cheered the Tsotsi
victory.
"It is fantastic that after many years of isolation, South
Africa had had Oscar nominations in consecutive years with
Tsotsithis year and Yesterday last year," he said.
"This sends out a clear message to the world that the South
African film industry has come of age."
The award would inspire other South African filmmakers,
Tsotsi director Gavin Hood said backstage after accepting the
award in Los Angeles.
"What we want like everybody else is just to tell our
stories," he said. "This hopefully encourages more South African
filmmakers to just keep telling their stories."
Tsotsi and Yesterday are among a clutch of local
features amid a resurgence in the local industry, with a new
multi-million dollar studio being erected in Cape Town.
Last year, a South African version of the opera Carmen
took top honours at the Berlin film festival. U-Carmen
eKhayelitsha places the traditional opera in a township and was
made in Xhosa.
South African-born Charlize Theron flew the flag at the
Oscars in 2003 when she won best actress for her role in
Monster.