| Sunday, 07 September 2008 |
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GAVIN HOOD Winner Best Foreign Language Film Tsotsi |
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Written by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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Q. Congratulation. We were crying. We were so emotional. How do you think this is going to change the way that Hollywood views South African movie making in general?
A. I think it's going to change the way South Africans view their moviemaking. In the sense that we're the second film nominated. Last year, Yesterday was nominated but we're the first film to win, and I feel very, very proud to hold this because it tells me, and all of us at home, that we can do it. And that hopefully it means that people will keep investing in our local stories, because this gives investors a little more confidence and what we want more than anything else is that people and human emotion is universal and we're more alike than we think we are around the world, and we grew up watching American films and I hope that Americans will watch our stories and just as we 've learned about Americans and the rest of the world people will know more about us from our stories, and find that we're actually so similar as human beings inside. So thanks, South Africa.
Q. How are you doing? Good to see you.
A. I'm sweating and terrified. But I'm holding this.
Q. I was just wondering, you just saluted the whole continent of Africa. How is African film? And where is South Africa within the African cinema community?
A. Well, I think we're priveliged in South Africa to have possibly the strongest economy, so we have an enormous amount of foreign production that has come to our country over the last 20 years, so we have, so you can rent any kind of gear you want, a huge amount. I mean, lots of Hollywood movies are shooting in South Africa now, huge amounts of European films and commercials, so we have a very solid base and commercials, so we have a very solid base, we're very fortunate in that sense. We have that infrastructure. And what has started to happen is now we're beginning to use that infrastructure to tell our own stories. I shouldn't say now we're beginning; we have been doing so, some very brave filmmakers like Anant Singh and Darrell Roodt they have been doing it for years, but we used to do one or two films a year. If we're lucky, now we're making ten or twelve and hopefully that will just keep growing and it encourages more young South African filmmakers to just keep telling their story, then I feel very proud. I really do, and I'm very proud of the whole cast and crew. Let me tell you now no kidding it's 4:00, 5:00 in the morning at home, and I know they're going crazy, I know where all the parties are. We have all the (unintelligible) before, there is so much celebrating. It's like a sports team, guys. It's like having a sports team. It's like if you're a Yankee fan. You know, people at home, we just won something that we've never won before, and I know that makes people at home very happy, so thanks.
Q. Alan Silverman, we're on on Cape Talk.
A. We're live?
Q. Well, we're going to be in a few minutes.
A. Wow.
Q. Don't worry, we can edit it all out.
A. Okay.
Q. You mentioned before that there was a sense of relief. Did that sense pass over you as you were waiting for your name to be announced?
A. You know, I've said before, the film has been fortunate enough to win a number of festivals over the last six to eight months, and a lot of times I felt relieved instead of fully overjoyed. I felt relieved because there were so many expectations for the film and I knew so many people, my producers, my investors, our actors, our country had expectations and as the director sometimes you carry a bit too much pressure because you think you might be the guy that screwed it up. So a lot of time I felt relief but tonight, tonight I don't feel relief, mate, I feel damn great. I feel truly overjoyed. It doesn't get better than this. This is the Olympics of filmmaking and I I'm so proud of everyone in South Africa that worked on this film. I really am. Go to Tsotsi.com and read the credits. Every person put their best into this movie. It's really good.
Q. I don't think we've heard "Amandla" (sic) before.
A. Buy a donkey, buy a donkey, buy a donkey. (In Afrikaan)
Q. Your two stars are complete unknowns in South Africa.
A. Yeah.
Q. What do you think that means for acting in South Africa? We have had Charlize win, but she had to come here.
Now, we get an Oscar won by two indigenous South Africans speaking
A. In their own language?
Q. In their own language.
Q. I think I think that the fact that the actors were able to work in their own language we're so used to seeing stories told about our country but not always by our own people and some of those stories have been good and some have not, but as a matter of dignity story telling is important for people. It's not just not about learning about other people it's also about how we learn about ourselves and I hope we will do it more and more and it also reveals our common humanity to the rest of the world. And our struggles. But deep down inside people are more similar than we think. So, I hope South Africans keep telling all kinds of stories. I really do. Thank you.
Q. Congratulations.
A. Thank you. You were confident on that red carpet and you made me even more nervous.
Q. Good for you. You know (unintelligible) you have extraordinary actors as the young lady was just saying. Is there a lot of other people like this in South Africa. What about the acting community in South Africa will we see other people?
A. I hope so, yes, absolutely. I'll tell you the thing: Let me tell you the films cost money even a film like Tsotsi costs $3 million is $3 million that people want back and we have a relatively small market at home for films. So we need our films to travel. We need to have people see them outside of our country because our local market is not huge. Although I have to say Tsotsi is breaking box office records at home too. So maybe it it will help change that too. But we do have great actors and great story tellers it's just that film has been an expensive media for us. Our theater tradition as you know is very strong. The book on which this film is based is by Athol Fugard and Fugard is known all over the world for his great plays. He's won many, many awards and many Tony Awards. And so we've always had great story tellers. We've had great novelists, great musicians. We have Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela who came to America during the apartheid years. They went into exile. But we've had many, many great artists. But our film is such an expensive medium. And it requires the talents of so many individuals. All of whom have to be so very good in their own departments that it's the industry that is coming up last. And the fact that it's coming up in South Africa to take its place with the other art forms that are already is very. Exciting. Thank you, everyone.
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