The South African Academy Award Selection Committee and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) have submitted Oliver Schmitz’s Life, Above All for consideration as South Africa’s official entry into the Best Foreign Film category for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.

If approved by the Selection Committee, Life, Above All will represent South Africa as the country’s entry for Oscars 2011, where it will compete with entries from around the world for a Foreign Film nomination.

Tsotsi won this category in 2006, while Yesterday was a nominee in 2005.

Eddie Mbalo, CEO of The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and chairperson of The SA Oscar Selection Committee, believes Life, Above All has proven itself at festivals as a story that resonates with audiences.

“The storyline, high quality direction and production, and the excellent performances by the actresses will stand the film in good stead when presented to The International Academy Awards Selection Committee,” says Eddie.

The film received a 10-minute standing ovation at its world premiere at The Cannes International Film Festival, where it competed in Un Certain Regard and won the Prix Francois Chalais for a film dedicated to the values of life affirmation and
of journalism,

Life, Above All also scooped Best South African Film at Durban International Film Festival, where first-time actress Khomotso Manyaka won Best Actress.

Life, Above All is based on the novel Chanda’s Secret by Canadian Allan Stratton.

The drama depicts a young girl fighting the fear and shame that has poisoned her community. The film is narrated predominantly in Northern Sotho and was shot in  the small town of Elandsdoorn in Limpopo Province. The film stars Khomotso, Lerato Mvelase (Home Affairs) and Harriet Manamela (State of Violence).

“We chose Life, Above All entirely on artistic merit. It is a fantastically well-crafted film with exquisite performances and superb technical offering,” said judge Tendeka Matatu from Ten10 Films. 

“Life, Above All is a beautiful movie about strength, survival, friendship, love and all the good things about Africa, set against the backdrop of the unfortunate things about Africa. It’s a beautifully-made film by a beautiful director with absolutely extraordinary perfomances by actors who deserve to be seen by the world,” said screenwriterThandi Brewer.

South Africa faces competition from the rest of Africa.

Outside the Law, directed by Rachid Bouchareb, is Algeria’s entry. The French gangster movie follows three brothers from Algeria whose paths diverge towards radical politics and violent crime in Paris.

Outside the Law competed for the main  prize, The Palm d’Or, at Cannes Film Festival and screened at Toronto International Film Festival.

Messages from the Sea, directed by Daoud Abdel Sayed, is Egypt’s entry for the Oscar race. Narrated in Arabic, the film is a meditation on life, love and social disintegration.

It’s a sure bet that Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s A Screaming Man will be selected as Chad’s official entry. The film won The Jury Prize at Cannes and was well-received at Toronto. 

A Screaming Man depicts life in civil-war torn Chad, seen from the perspective of a pool attendant at a hotel.

Another African hopeful comes  in the suprising form of Danish entry, In a Better World, directed by Susanne Bier (Things we lost in the fire) and partly shot in Kenya.

The film explores the friendship between two boys and compares life in a refugee camp in Africa to that in a Danish suburb.

Other African countries have yet to come to the party, but there is speculation that Morocco may choose Imad and Swel Noury’s The Man Who Sold the World as its entry, while Tanzania’s Swahili film, Memories of a Burning Tree, directed by Sherman Ong, could also crack the node. Tunisia seems likely to present Raja Amari’s (Satin Rouge) Buried Secrets, about female squatters living underneath a mansion.

The final list of nominees will be announced on January 25, 2011. The Academy Awards will take place on 27 February 2011.
Sally Fink