South Africa has netted its Oscar contender, choosing Muneera Sallies' music-themed drama The old righteous blues as a contender at the 97th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) announced the choice, which was chosen by the South African Academy Awards selection committee. Sallies' drama follows a young man who tries to unite his divided community through the power of music.
Ayden Croy plays Hantjie Jansen, a young man playing in his town's Kerskoor (Christmas choir) who is passed over for the choir's top post as trommelmajoor (drummer major) when his uncle, Oom Jakwes (Ivan Abrahams) retires. The snub is the result of a decades-long feud that dates back to a choice by Croy's father that split the fabled Old Righteous Blues Kerskoor into two rival bands and has divided the community ever since. Croy aims to bring the bands and community together and heal old wounds with some exciting tunes.
Based on an original idea by writer and producer Carol Shore, The old righteous blues enters the Oscar race without a major premiere under its belt. The drama was screened at the Silwerskerm Film Festival in South Africa, which highlights Afrikaans cinema, at the Romford festival in the United Kingdom and at the Sunscreen film festival in Flordia.
South Africa has been nominated twice for an Oscar for Best International Film and won once, for Gavin Hood's crime film Tsotsi in 2005. John Trengove The wound made the Oscar shortlist in 2017 but missed out on a nomination.
The shortlist for the 97th Academy Awards will be revealed on December 17, 2024, with the final nominations revealed on January 17, 2025. The awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2025.