6 March, 2006

President Thabo Mbeki has added his voice of praise to the cast of South African film Tsotsi that has won an Oscar in Los Angeles in the United States.

He said the win announced yesterday was "yet another well deserved accomplishment of our country and people" and that they had made the nation immensely proud.

The movie won in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, making it the first South African film to win the prestigious award.

In a statement today, President Mbeki said Tsotsi; "a story of poverty, hopelessness and struggle transformed into faith and a profound moral re-awakening leading to better future" was another appropriate representation of the “Age of Hope”.

"It bears testimony to the abundance of South African talent and symbolises what South Africans can achieve when we work together towards a common objective. Tsotsi brings sharply to the fore, the important role that the arts can play in nation building," he said.

Tsotsi's award follows the Best Actress Award won by South African actress Charlize Theron in 2004 for her role in the movie Monster.

However, Charlize narrowly missed the award for the second time after she was nominated again this year for the film North Country.

"[Also] the nomination of another South African film, Yesterday, has given a boost to our film industry while simultaneously propelling our country forward on the global stage to which we were so recently re-admitted and are indebted to make a contribution towards its betterment," the President said.

Earlier today, Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan said it was a great honour that the country's creative artists had received much deserved recognition "at the heart of the world’s leading film and cinema community".

"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," he added.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Gauteng Film Office (GFO) Terry Tselane said with the film, South Africans had emphatically shown the world that they were master storytellers and that with excellent production, they values could compete on a competitive, global entertainment stage.

“We believe that ‘Tsotsi’ underlines some of the rewards that can be realised from increased local content development.

"The fact that South African audiences have responded well to the film should be an indication of the potential lucrative domestic market that exists for local productions. The GFO is exceedingly proud to have been a part of this particular project,” Mr Tselane said. – BuaNews