Oscars: South Africa Submits ‘The Heart Is A Muscle’ For International Feature Race

EXCLUSIVE: The National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa has selected Imran Hamdulay’s The Heart is a Muscle as the country’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.

Exploring the bonds between fathers and sons through the lens of inter-generational healing and forgiveness, The Heart is a Muscle draws on experiences specific to South Africa’s Cape Flats neighborhood which also speak to the universal search for reconciliation and belonging. The story centers on a man struggling to confront inherited memories and, through the slow work of forgiveness, learning how to become the father and husband he longs to be. Check out a trailer below.

Hamdulay’s debut feature, The Heart is a Muscle premiered in the Panorama section of Berlin this year, winning the Ecumenical Jury Prize. The movie continues to see global festival play, including Sydney and the upcoming Cairo International Film Festival, among others. 

Hamdulay comments: “The film is very close to my heart. It’s a shared story born from the voices and experiences of the community around it, and we’re just so thrilled to have it as South Africa’s entry at the Academy Awards this year.”

South Africa’s history in the International Feature category includes Gavin Hood’s Oscar-winning Tsotsi (2005) and Darrel Roodt’s nominated Yesterday (2004). Both The Wound (2017) and Life, Above All (2010) made the shortlist.

Written and directed by Hamdulay, the drama is produced by The Star Film Company’s Adam Thal (The Last Ranger), Khosie Dali (Sons of the Sea), Brett Michael Innes (Sink) & Lucifer’s Lesley-Ann Brandt.  Key backing for The Heart is a Muscle came from the NFVF, the Red Sea Fund and South Africa’s Indigenous Film Distribution. MMM Film Sales handles international rights.

Here’s the trailer: