Tsotsi
Overview
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
written and directed by Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi...
. The film is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard
Athol Fugard
Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director who writes in English, best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid and for the 2005 Academy-Award winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood...
. The soundtrack features Kwaito
Kwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...
music performed by popular South African artist Zola
Zola (entertainer)
Bonginkosi Dlamini, aka Zola, is a South African musician, actor and presenter. He also presents Zola 7, a television show named for him, on SABC 1.-Cultural Influences:...
as well as a score by Mark Kilian
Mark Kilian
Born and raised in South Africa, Mark came to the USA to pursue a career in film scoring in 1994. His academic life in his native country and very active performing career prepared him for his enrollment into USC’s Film Scoring program...
and Paul Hepker
Paul Hepker
Paul Hepker - South African composer, musical director, pianist, best known for composing the score for the film Tsotsi, which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards in 2005...
featuring the voice of South African protest singer/poet Vusi Mahlasela
Vusi Mahlasela
Vusi Sidney Mahlasela Ka Zwane is a Sotho South African singer-songwriter.His music is generally described as "African folk". His work was an inspiration to many in the anti-apartheid movement. His themes include the struggle for freedom, and forgiveness and reconciliation with enemies...
.
Set in a Alexandra
Alexandra
Alexandra is the feminine form of the given name Alexander, which is a romanization of the Greek name Αλέξανδρος . Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb ἀλέξειν "to defend" and the noun ἀνδρός , genitive of ἀνήρ "man". Thus it may be roughly translated as "protector of man"...
slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
, near Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, the film tells the story of Tsotsi, a young street thug who steals a car only to discover a baby in the back seat.
The film won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.
His mother dying from a terminal disease, the young David (Benny Moshe) ran away from an abusive father and lived with other homeless children in a series of large concrete construction pipes.
