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Award-winning South African film Lakutshon’ Ilanga (When the Sun Sets) is tipped for more accolades this year.
Written and directed by Phumi Morare, the film received a nod in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award.
It is also shortlisted for the Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars. According to the Oscars, a category shortlist is not the same as a list of nominees as one more cut will be made to round out the list of nominations.
In the NAACP Image Awards, which are set to take place on February 26, the film is nominated in the Outstanding Short Form (Live Action) category.
Speaking to Sowetanon Sunday, Morare said: “I feel truly honoured to have been nominated for an NAACP Image Award and to be recognised in Hollywood with this incredible accolade. My mind is blown by the level at which this film that’s close to my heart, and inspired by my family, has resonated with others.
“I also feel blown away by our film’s inclusion in the Oscars shortlist. To be in consideration for an Oscar is beyond my wildest dreams for this film.”
The film features Zikhona Bali, who plays the lead role as Aphiwe Mkefe, Thembekile Mathe and Awonke Mtonjana.
Lakutshon' Ilanga made its world premiere early this year at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, where Morare is based.
The film was further screened at the Durban International Film Festival.
Bali, who also appears in telenovela DiepCity, said she was proud to be part of such a movie.
"The film is about a young lady who took care of her younger siblings. One being her teenage brother who was involved in the youth uprising protests. The story is based on the mother of the director Phumi. Phumi's mom took the role of mothering her siblings during difficult times. This is a really timeless movie.
"The movie is and will always be relevant. Black South African history is not well-recorded. It's possibly diluted. If telling our stories through art, film or music is our way, I'll be apart of that. Our stories are valid."
Shot in Soweto, the film tells the story of a young, black nurse during apartheid SA in 1985.
The nurse must face her worst fears when she learns that her younger brother, an activist, may be in danger.
The film is a tribute to the many black mothers in SA who fought against impossible odds during apartheid.
Three months ago, the film bagged gold at Student Academy Awards.
Morare said the film had also been acquired by Warner Media and would be aired on HBO from February.
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