Four Corners, the movie set in the Cape ganglands, has been selected as South Africa’s official 2014 foreign language entry for the Academy Awards. This is the first foreign language film to blend Sabela (the coded prison language of the 26 and 28 Number gangs) Tsoti-taal, Cape Afrikaans and English.

The movie follows the life of a young chess prodigy as he faces the dangers of growing up in the Cape Flats.

The film was directed by Ian Gabriel, and produced by Cindy Gabriel and Genevieve Hofmeyr. The two producers are excited about the exposure and said they think the film will be well received by a world-wide audience due to a variety of strong themes, like fatherhood and coming of age.

The Oscar selection panel was impressed by the outstanding performance of the actors in the film. Director, Gabriel, said:

By teaming established talent with ‘real people’ performers, we enabled both to reach deep into shared and individual experiences.

The Oscar selection committee said in their recommendation that it was:

Refreshing to see a film boldly tackling a part of our life not usually explored.

You can watch Four Corners if you live in Joburg. It’s currently playing for a limited time at The Bioscope Independent Cinema in Johannesburg, and is set to be released elsewhere later on this year.

Oscar nominations are set to be announced on 16 January 2014, and the ceremony will be held on 2 March in Los Angeles.

Check out the film’s teaser here:

[Source: Channel 24]