"Tsotsi" becomes the first ever South African film to win an Oscar The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and the Academy Awards Selection Committee (South Africa) congratulate the producers, cast and crew of Tsotsi for the win of the Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language film.

Tsotsi, a film by Gavin Hood competed against 57 other foreign language films in the same category and emerged a victor. The NFVF and the industry were ecstatic about the nomination of "Tsotsi" into the 78th edition of the Oscars and winning the award is an enormous cherry on the top.

The fact that a South African film has been nominated for an Oscar for the second consecutive year speaks volumes for the level of talent that exists in the country; all that was needed was for the talent to be exposed. It also proves that the international positioning strategy for South African film embarked upon by the NFVF 5 years ago is bearing fruit.  The strategy has always been to increase the volume of films, market South Africa as a filmmaking country and position South Africa as a partner for co-productions.

Numerous South African filmmakers have participated at various film festivals around the world with the assistance from the NFVF in a bid to get their work and talent noticed.  The NFVF and the Department of Arts and Culture have for the past eight years consistently hosted a South African pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival to great acclaim, and these efforts are beginning to pay off.  In line with NFVF strategy, the NFVF facilitated for "Tsotsi" to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005, this was the first screening of the film at an international film festival.

"Tsotsi''s win reinforces the Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan's statement: 'the South African film industry has come of age'. We should all celebrate this magnificent win, and welcome Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto, Paul Raleigh and Gavin Hood, home like heroes when they return from Los Angeles, we should also take our hats off to the magnificent all South African cast that appeared in the film." said Eddie Mbalo, CEO of the NFVF.

The NFVF's R1 million contribution to Tsotsi came as a result of a 3-year feature film grant of R 35 million received from the Department of Arts and Culture, which recently lapsed. Out of this grant 26 feature films were granted production funding. These films have gone around the world and scooped numerous awards. The discontinuation of this grant means that not more than five feature films will be produced in South Africa this year.

The film was released in South Africa by Ster Kinekor and earned a gross of R 526 676 (for a three day weekend) in its opening weekend. This is 300% more than Hotel Rwanda and 250 % more than last year's Oscar nominee, "Yesterday" in their opening weekends. Tsotsi has since become a household favourite, netting a gross of about R2, 5 million at the local box office after four weeks on circuit.  This is living proof that there is an audience for South African film, and that South African audiences have a huge thirst for an honest portrayal of themselves on the big screen.

"After this win, the challenge to the film industry in South Africa will be to ensure the continuous supply of films if we are to be guaranteed the loyalty from the audiences for our films", said Mr Mbalo.

Tsotsi was produced by Peter Fudakowski (UK Film and Television Company) and co-produced by Paul Raleigh, (Moviworld - South Africa). The principal cast includes Presley Chweneyagae as the lead character with Mothusi Magano, Kenneth Nkosi, Terry Pheto, Zenzo Ngqobe and Zola.

Tsotsi was financed in South Africa by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and in the United Kingdom by the UK Film and Television Company.

BOX OFFICE
After four weeks, South African drama, TSOTSI, has grossed over R2, 5 million on the local circuit, outperforming comparative films, such as WHALE RIDER, HOTEL RWANDA and YESTERDAY.
TSOTSI maintained its position on the SA Top 10, as well as, held onto its number 3 position on the Cinema Nouveau screened by Jamesons Top 10 for three consecutive weeks. The best performing site continues to be Ster-Kinekor's Sterland cinema in Pretoria, where more than 10 000 people a week are coming through the doors to see TSOTSI. Actors Presley Chweneyagae and Zenzo Ngqobe recently spent a day at the cinema where they met and spent time with fans.
Miramax is releasing TSOTSI in the United States this past weekend (24 February 2006) and the UK release is scheduled for mid March 2006. (Release by Ster Kinekor)



DIRECTOR GAVIN HOOD'S STATEMENT
ADAPTING FUGARD'S ONLY NOVEL
THE ROLL OF THE DICE - WALKING IN TSOTSI'S SHOES
A GANG OF MISFITS
CASTING TSOTSI
READ MORE ABOUT ATHOL FUGARD AND GAVIN HOOD
DESIGNING TSOTSI
CO-PRODUCER PAUL RALEIGH TALKS ABOUT TSOTSI
WRITER-DIRECTOR GAVIN HOOD TALKS ABOUT TSOTSI
PRESLEY CHWENEYAGAE TALKS ABOUT PLAYING TSOTSI


















Weavind knew from past experience that because of the compact nature of the shacks, it is virtually impossible to shoot inside any of them.  "This effectively meant that irrespective of which exteriors we decided on, all the interior scenes would have to be studio builds," says Weavind.  "The big challenge would be to perfectly match the interiors in the studio with the exteriors on location."
   The chief exteriors that needed to be identified were the shacks of Tsotsi and Miriam.  During a scout of the squatter camp at Tshiawelo in Soweto, the filmmakers came across an elevated dwelling that immediately caught everyone's attention.  "We all fell in love with a decrepit little staircase that led to a small, dilapidated room and decided that that had to be Tsotsi's shack," recalls Weavind.  The shack in question was a mere 3m x 2m, originally a little double-storey and although completely unsafe, its elevation above the other shacks suggested a sort of eagle's nest from which Tsotsi could survey his surroundings and lord over his domain.  For filmic reasons Weavind and her team enlarged the exterior of the shack by cladding it with corrugated iron.
 
 
When designing the interior of Tsotsi's shack in studio, Weavind drew inspiration form the actual exterior and also from the lifestyle of the character who doesn't care about his surroundings and attaches little importance to the things that surround him.  "The interior of his shack needed to reflect the nihilistic nature of his existence," says Weavind.  All materials used in the construction of this interior, including the corrugated iron, beams and nails, were salvaged from scrap yards.  The end result is a set that is thoroughly authentic and at the same time has the beautifully rich textures of the actual shacks in the squatter camps.  She has furnished the shack sparsely, but all the while keeping a keen eye on detail.   
For Miriam's shack the filmmakers opted for a small brick dwelling in Kliptown, one of the oldest areas of Soweto, a dwelling left over from the days of grand apartheid when Soweto was still in its infancy.  The exterior of the house has a rich patina, but there was also a lightness about it that immediately appealed to Weavind. "Although both Tsotsi and Miriam live in shantytowns, the colour of their inner worlds is very different and the house in Kliptown somehow seemed more appropriate for Miriam's character."
The interior that Weavind created for Miriam's shack differs greatly from that of Tsotsi's shack.  While it also reflects the poverty and decay the overriding feel is that of a welcoming and comfortable space.   "I wanted her shack to be like a cool oasis," says Weavind.  "It is light and airy, reflecting the light in her life and we used turquoise, a much loved colour in the townships, to further enforce the sense of serenity in her life and in her surroundings."  In sharp contrast to Tsotsi's shack, Miriam's dwelling reflects pride and order.
 
 
 
 
A special feature of Miriam's shack is the inclusion of a number of mobiles that Weavind and her crew made of wire and glass.  The play of light off of the mobiles enhances the theme of light in Miriam's life and lends a magic quality to the interior of her shack.
By far the biggest build in the film was that of Soekie's Tavern, a typical contemporary township shebeen and the scene of the big fight between Tsotsi and Boston.  Since the decision had been taken to build the tavern in the squatter camp, the filmmakers felt that the building should be a solid construction that could later be donated to the community.  "We built with brick and cement, but with a twist," says Weavind.  "Instead of using new materials, used only recycled materials like old corrugated iron, old timber we found in demolition yards and actually went so far as to buy architectural elements from houses in the area including bricks and columns."
Construction of Soekies took about 7 weeks, but Weavind brought in the scenics during the third week of construction to oversee the 'breaking down' of the plastering and to start on the weathering of the building to ensure that it would blend in with its surroundings. "Initially we thought we'd apply a bit of colour to the set, but what we actually did was take all the colour out of it and just left the set with a red stoep.  Even though it had been plastered and painted, we worked it down to a monotone set and provided a neutral backdrop allowing the characters and the patrons to add colour to the set."
In keeping with Gavin Hood's brief, Weavind has employed a very simple colour palette, using mostly natural colours.  "Gavin wanted to avoid using too many colours in frame and to largely restrict the use of colour to enhancing mood.  I drew inspiration from the townships and also from the richness of Africa," says Weavind.
In Their Own Words
 
PAUL RALEIGH - Co Producer
 
About the genesis of the project
It started about 15 months ago when Peter Fudakowski and Gavin Hood came to visit me and told me that they were developing this project.  Peter was going to acquire the rights to Tsotsi - he's seen A Reasonable Man in Cannes and thought Gavin was a very talented director and he wanted Gavin to direct the film.  Obviously Gavin and I have quite a long history together, we did the Storekeeper and we did A Reasonable Man together.  It was a pleasure for me to get involved and we started the process which meant doing budgets and then preparing to raise the money and the 14 months later, we started the film, which in the life of a film is actually quite quick.
 
Strengths of the story
The strength of a film like Tsotsi is that it is organic, it is made here, the local languages are used, we are not pretending we are somewhere else and the people making the film understand what they are doing.  It's always very difficult when you are trying to second guess and audience about trying to imagine where you are with the story and what characters are like because they might be from somewhere else.  In a case like this it was quite easy and when you start the casting, and you start putting the crew together, you know exactly what you are looking for.
 
Riskiness of making this film
This is an extremely risky venture.  It is not a genre film and it doesn't have those obvious attachments that end up making the film easy to sell, but it's a brave choice and the only thing that will sell the film, is the film itself.  So we knew it was an extremely tough call.  It's the dilemma you have with these types of films, people tell you that art films don't make money, so don't spend money on them, but if you don't spend money on them, they'll not be good films so in a way, by not resourcing the film properly, you shoot yourself in the foot before you start because it is impossible at this level to take $1 million and make some kind of magic and that was the hard part - convincing ourselves and then convincing our investors that we needed to make something exceptional and that takes money.
 
Special appeal of Tsotsi
I think, firstly, it's not a political film and that's important.  I think there's a feeling out there that we've been there and done it and that we should really be moving on and dealing with other kinds of issues. I think that, but for the roll of the dice, any one of us could have been one of the characters in Tsotsi.  Especially in SA where we have the differences between the haves and the have nots and it is much more of a social statement than a political or colour statement.  But it will be difficult because, traditionally, South African audiences have been fed the pulp, if I can call it that, of the big American films.  The price of a ticket is the same irrespective of what the film costs and if someone is going to spend their R30, then nine times out of ten, they are going to go for the big picture and we're aware of this.  But, whoever you are, I think when you come out of this film, you will have a better understanding of the country we live in and that poverty and crime are just not a colour issue.
 
The universality of the story
Well at some point, Peter Fudakowski and I were talking about this film and wondering if we'd be able to raise the right amount of money to do it correctly and he said to me that an alternative location for this film could be South America, Brazil for example.  There is something very true about that because Brazil has similar economic realities to where we are.  There is a level of first world and third world, there's rich and poor, and where you get poverty, these are universal problems.  So for people living in Europe it may be difficult to identify with these characters because it's not something they live with every day, like we do in this part of the world, but I think there is enough savvy in the way Gavin has directed this film that people will understand completely
 
The biggest challenges of mounting this production
There were several challenges.  One was five weeks of night shoots in the middle of winter.  Night shots on their own bring their own problems, you're probably working at 25 per cent of the capacity of the day.   The other thing was the baby.  You write a three month old baby into a script and you realise that no matter what you thought when you read the script, you are never prepared for the reality of a three month old something on the set, that is not interested in what you are doing, does not take direction - it will do what it does - you can never anticipate that.  It was tough for the parents, it was tough for everyone. When you have sixty people around, it does bring other pressures.
 
Expected reaction of audiences
I think the first ten minutes of this film are going to be crucial.  People who didn't understand the script and those very specific story beats that Gavin wrote, felt that this was not a likeable person and that the audience would not stay with him.  I think that now that people have seen what he's done, people are going to be genuinely moved and I think that, at the end of the movie, people are going to say how is it possible that I fell in love with someone who, in the first ten minutes of the film, came across as such a bad person.  By the end of the movie, people will be in tears, understanding Tsotsi's journey and understanding his redemption.  This has been challenging because there are no stunts or SFX or action sequences.  This is lovely, engrossing and people will have to read at the same time because it will be subtitled.
 
 
GAVIN HOOD - Writer/Director
 
On the genesis of Tsotsi
Tsotsi is a project that has been around for a long time.  It's of course based on a wonderful novel by Fugard.  It remained relatively unknown for many years until he was a famous playwright and it's the only novel that Athol Fugard ever wrote.  I read it probably 15 years ago and thought it had the most beautiful character studies that I had seen in a South African work.   I think people have been trying to make this film for about 15 years.  Various scripts had been written and I was just lucky because a script, apparently, was floating around for a number of years and it landed on Peter Fudakowski, our producer's, desk and he read it and he had also read the novel and, for whatever reason, he felt that he would like to give me a call because he had seen one of, two of my films, A Reasonable Man and In Desert and Wilderness in Cannes. I got a call from Peter, out of the blue to say that he had just read a book that he would commission me to write a first draft of a script, even without having the rights.  He really wanted to see if the novel really could work on a film. So having got the commission to write the script for Peter, I then spent many months just thinking this is a mountain I'm not going to be able to climb.

On Fugard's Novel
The novel is quite episodic - beautifully so - this is not in any way a criticism, it is the nature of a