{"id":11081,"date":"2020-11-11T23:56:45","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T21:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=11081"},"modified":"2020-11-11T23:56:48","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T21:56:48","slug":"basotho-film-starts-oscar-qualifying-run-on-27-november-4-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2020\/11\/11\/basotho-film-starts-oscar-qualifying-run-on-27-november-4-december\/","title":{"rendered":"Basotho Film Starts Oscar-qualifying Run On 27 November – 4 December"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2018This Is Not A Burial, It\u2019s A Resurrection\u2019, a haunting tribute to land, community and ancestry, will screen for one week in order to qualify for the 93rd Academy Awards<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This Is Not A Burial, It\u2019s A Resurrection\u2019, starring the late South African screen legend Mary Twala, starts its Oscar-qualifying run on 27 November at Ster Kinekor Tygervalley in Cape Town and at Ster Kinekor Sandton in Johannesburg. The film will screen until 4 December, in line with the rules for qualifying films for the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards, which require films to screen for seven days to qualify for nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOur film will be Lesotho\u2019s first ever Oscar entry. This is a historic moment!\u201d says producer Cait Pansegrouw of lauded production company URUCU. \u201cIt was made under such humble and challenging circumstances, but it continues to amaze us as it takes on a life of its own. I am exceedingly proud and so thankful for everything that it has achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first film from Lesotho, made by a Mosotho filmmaker, to screen internationally, \u2018This Is Not A Burial, It\u2019s A Resurrection\u2019, directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, was viewed by critics as one of the best films at this year\u2019s Sundance Film Festival, held in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visually striking drama, set in the mountains of Lesotho, opens with an elderly widow named Mantoa (Mary Twala), grieving the loss of her son. Determined to die and be laid to rest with her family, her plans are interrupted when she discovers that the village and its cemetery will be forcibly resettled to make way for a dam reservoir. Refusing to let the dead be desecrated, she finds a new will to live and ignites a collective spirit of defiance within her community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Visionary Filmmaking at Sundance. Allan Hunter of Screen International said, \u201c\u2019It offers a vivid, beautifully crafted reflection on identity, community and the tension between respecting age-old traditions and accepting the seemingly unstoppable march of progress.\u201d On Twitter, Los Angeles film critic Robert Koehler wrote: \u201cAdd Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese\u2019s name to the ranks of great young filmmakers with his first narrative feature \u2018This Is Not A Burial, It\u2019s A Resurrection\u2019, a work of extraordinary poetics and emotion, an unforgettable giant from Lesotho.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe film continues to travel internationally, and has taken home twenty-one awards to date,\u201d says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution. \u201cMary Twala\u2019s performance is astounding and we look forward to sharing the film with South African audiences during this limited qualifying run. It will be theatrically released country-wide in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, the film is deeply personal. \u201cWhen I was a child, my family was evicted from our home,\u201d he says. \u201cMy grandmother\u2019s village is undergoing forced resettlement right now. My experience of displacement has significantly impacted who I am and how I see the world. Urucu believed in me from the beginning and Cait\u2019s passion in particular was the driving force behind \u2018Resurrection\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film also stars film and television icon Jerry Mofokeng Wa Makhetha (\u2018Tsotsi\u2019, \u2018Fanie Fourie\u2019s Lobola\u2019, \u2018Five Fingers for Marseilles\u2019, \u2018Four Corners, \u2018Scandal\u2019, \u2018Soul City\u2019, \u2018Yizo Yizo\u2019, \u2018Isidingo\u2019), Makhaola Ndebele (\u2018Machine Gun Preacher\u2019, \u2018Money Monster\u2019, \u2018Nomzamo\u2019) and Tseko Monaheng (\u2018Naka la Moitheri\u2019, \u2018Five Fingers for Marseilles\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This Is Not A Burial, It\u2019s A Resurrection\u2019 will release in South Africa in 2021. It will be distributed by Indigenous Film Distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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