Mbeki praises Tsotsi
Pretoria - The Oscar win by the film Tsotsi had taught the nation that developing the creative arts was important for the new South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said in Pretoria on Friday.
"The birth of the new South Africa must also be about these matters; matters of the soul. We need to ask ourselves, how do we develop the dramatic arts?" Mbeki said, at a function at the presidential guesthouse in honour of the film's cast and crew.
Such films did not have to be about politics or South Africa's apartheid past. All of South Africa's stories needed to be told, he said.
Tsotsi director Gavin Hood was happy a film such as Tsotsi had united a nation with a story about a thug.
Bringing people together to talk about one thing, even though they came from different backgrounds, was one of the merits of the film, he said.
Tsotsi was awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign film.
Since the crew's return to South Africa, with its prized gold statuette, it has met the national cricket team, former president Nelson Mandela and Cape Town's new mayor, Helen Zille.
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
