Multi-award winning South African film Otelo Burning leads the pack with 14 nominations for the new AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA), followed by seven nominations for the South African Film and TV Awards (SAFTAs), including Best Film.
Otelo Burning is a hard-hitting coming-of-age film set in the township Lamontville near Durban at the time of Mandela’s release from prison. The movie is based partly on fact and documents the lives of three Zulu boys who learn to surf in a time of dramatic change in the country.
The film is in Zulu with English subtitles and it has had considerable success internationally, playing at more than 70 festivals on all six continents.
“We are very proud to have been nominated at home and by our African colleagues,’ says Sara Blecher, producer and director of Otelo Burning. “It is a testament to the amazing 100% South African team that made the film what it is.’
Otelo Burning took seven years to conceive, write and shoot and the result has been described as a cross between the movies Blue Crush and City of God.
The film is available in South Africa on iTunes and Kalahari.com.
The winners of the AMVCAs will be announced on 8 and 9 March and the SAFTA winners receive their prizes on 15 and 16 March.
For more information about Otelo Burning, visit www.oteloburning.com and watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gek4b3x0TTQ.
