Otelo Burning wins international award
2012-04-12 16:49
Cape Town -
Otelo Burning a coming-of-age film about a group of young township kids who discover surfing, has won the Golden Owl for Best Movie by the Audience at the CineramaBC International Film Festival held in Brazil.
The festival's organisers exhibit films and documentaries from both well-known and new directors from around the globe.
"This latest win is wonderful news," director Sara Blecher said in a press release statement.
"The cast is mostly made up of young up-and-coming actors, some of whom have come through our workshop process and who are integrally involved in the real world of the story."
'Exciting to win'"It's particularly exciting to win an audience award in a country like Brazil, which has so many similarities to ours," she added.
According to the statement the award is one of many the film has already received.
"The Brazil win is the latest in a series of accolades for the
Otelo Burning. It recently bagged 13 nominations at the 2012 Africa Movie Academy Awards, announced in Ghana and also won the Best South African Feature Film award at the fifth Cape Winelands Film Festival."
The film was shot in Durban and is directed by Sara Blecher. It opens in South African cinemas on May 11.
Watch the Otelo Burning trailer here: