South Africa has selected Muneera Sallies’s drama Old Righteous Blues to compete for the Best International Feature Film award at the 97th Academy Awards, reports Cape {town} Etc.
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The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) announced the film as one of the last entries announced for the category, with the submission deadline closing on October 2.
Set in the Western Cape, Old Righteous Blues follows a young man’s quest to unite a fractured community by restoring the Old Righteous Blues Christmas Choir Band (Kerskoor) to its former glory.
His mission forces him to confront the fallout from a bitter feud started by his father two decades ago, which split the choir and devastated the community.
For twenty years, street battles, torn families, and shifting loyalties marked the rivalry between the two bands, leading to destructive and violent consequences.
‘It is an intense glimpse into the life of a young man, a family, and a community. More than that it is an intense glimpse into a journey and into the heart of brotherhood, tapping into immense stores of pain, love, dreams, and courage,’ said Sallies in a release announcing the film’s selection.
‘I was drawn to this project from the very first moment I had first picked up the script. I was intrigued and captivated by the characters and their stories within this little community, so much so that I immediately decided to visit and experience the streets of Bo-Dorp Robertson.’
The feature, inspired by an original idea from writer and producer Carol Shore, stems from her long-standing desire to create a film about the Kerskoor band, sparked by her discovery of Western Cape’s Christmas choir tradition 25 years ago, Deadline reports.
The film stars such South African luminaries as Kevin Smith, Euodia Samson and Simon Bruinders and award-winning actors like Ayden Croy and Joshwin Dyson.
The South African Academy Awards Selection Committee decided after an extensive judging process, which included scored reviews and thorough deliberations.
Old Righteous Blues is distributed by Indigenous Film Distribution and was pre-sold to Afrikaans-language channel KykNET.
It is produced by KykNET Films in collaboration with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, NFVF, Indigenous Film, Seashore Films, and The Ergo Company.
The film premiered at South Africa’s Silwerskerm Film Festival in 2023 and has also screened at the Romford Film Festival in the UK and the Panther City Film Festival in Fort Worth in 2024.
The film had a week-long screening at Worcester Nu Metro for one week only that started on Friday, 20 September 2024.
Sallies says that the purpose of screening of Old Righteous Blues is for local audiences to have a chance to see this film first and for it to fulfil its Oscar qualifying run.
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