Cape Town — Multi-award winner South African movie Izulu Lami has come out among Africa's best films at the 2011 African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held recently in Nigeria.
The seventh edition of the movie awards took place in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State. Izulu Lami, meaning "My Secret Sky" in Zulu, walked away with the AMAA Achievement Awards for Best Film in an African Language and Best Child Actor awards for the film's three child stars.
The movie follows the journey of two young children hoping to fulfill their late mother's dream. The leading characters, played by Sobahle Mkhabase as Thembi and Sibonelo Malinga as Khwezi, leave their rural home in Kwazulu-Natal for the city of Durban in search of a priest.
Thembi and Khwezi meet up with a gang of orphaned kids who help them adapt to life on the streets while guarding their most precious possession - a traditional handmade mat.
Adept camera work captures the leading pair sitting under a tree at sunset enjoying their supper consisting of a roasted rat. The simple script and short colourful scenes juxtapose the harsh reality of the unfolding storyline against the local South African sounds composed by Sazi Dlamini.
Izulu Lami, directed by Madoda Ncayiyana, looks at the world through the eyes of a child while touching on deeper themes facing many African children, including child-headed households, violence, street life and HIV/Aids.
This feature film is directed by Madoda Ncayiyana and co-produced by Julie Frederikse of Vuleka Productions. Frederikse, who co-wrote the film with Ncayiyana, said: “It’s a great achievement for an independent African film to win so many awards, but it’s especially unusual given that Izulu Lami was produced in Durban, rather than South Africa’s film capitals of Johannesburg or Cape Town.”
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It took Ncayiyana a year and a half to cast the children - and his efforts paid off with child star Sobahle Mkhabase winning the Best Actress award at Spain's Tarifa International African Film Festival and Tshepang Mohlomi (Chilli-Bite) winning Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film at the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA). At the 2011 African Movie Academy Awards, Sobahle Mkhabase, Sibonelo Malinga and Tshepang Mohlomi jointly won the Best Child Actor award.
Ncayiyana said: "When I work with children I prefer to verbally tell the story before I give out the script. I believe if they listen to storytelling they develop their own images of the characters and the world in which they live and thus be able to create and contribute authenticity."
In total the movie has walked away with nine international and three local awards.
The film ends with powerful words by young Thembi who tells her little brother Khwezi: "Wherever we are, Mama is watching us." The two then head back to their rural home with a newfound talent, leaving room for a sequel.
