SA film wins big at international festival
The South African film "Inxeba" has won the Best Film Award in the International New Talent Competition at the Taipei Film Festival.
The festival screens 160 films from more than 40 countries and is recognised as the most influential showcase of international cinema in Taiwan.
The film explores tradition and masculinity and the clash between age-old rituals and modernity, with Variety magazine describing it as "a milestone in South African cinema".
Musician and novelist Nakhane Touré stars as Xolani, a lonely factory worker who joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood.
When Kwanda (Niza Jay Ncoyini), a defiant initiate from the city, discovers his mentor's secret, Xolani's entire existence begins to unravel.
"Inxeba" also won the First Feature Awards at the 41st Frameline International Film Festival in San Francisco.
Other awards:
- Best Feature Film at the 32nd Lovers Film Festival
- The Jury Prize for Best Narrative at the 19th annual Sarasota Film Festival in Florida
"Inxeba: will make its African premiere at the Durban International Film Festival that kicks-of on Thursday.