'Yesterday' star looks forward
Zibonele Ntuli
3 March 2005
Internationally acclaimed actress Leleti Khumalo received a warm welcome on Wednesday when she landed in Johannesburg from Los Angeles, where she attended Sunday night's Oscar Awards ceremony for the film "Yesterday".
The Zulu film, in which Khumalo stars, was nominated for best foreign language film - the first South African film to receive this honour. The award went to Spanish film "The Sea Inside".
Speaking at Johannesburg International Airport on her return, Khumalo said that not winning the award would not deter those involved with the film.
"I knew we were not going to win the Oscar, it is very rare to get it the first time", Khumalo said. "Rubbing shoulders with people like Morgan Freeman at the Oscars, you really tell yourself that 'I have made it', I must have done my part to deserve to be here."
She explained that representing rural women in a film dealing with HIV/Aids had not been difficult for her.
"I'm glad I
chose to play this part in the movie, I told myself I'm going to do it for women in rural areas. I did not even do much research on the topic; I said I'm just a perfect woman to play it.
"I have lived this life; my husband [Mbongeni Ngema] is from rural areas, I know how those people live", she said.
Khumalo will soon be playing a part in the local soapie "Generations"; she is expected to make her first appearance on the small screen around the first week of April.
"There is no time for resting, I am going to the [hair] salon for tomorrow's shoot, and I have been learning my lines on the plane", Khumalo said, adding: "I am not going to quit the stage; I will alternate it with television."
Co-producers Anant Singh and Helena Spring and playwright Darrel Roodt accompanied Khumalo to the awards, courtesy of South African Airways.
Roodt said it had troubled him for over 20 years not to have produced a film in one of the country's indigenous
languages.
"Had the movie not been in Zulu, it would not have had such an impact", he explained, adding that another film starring Khumalo was in post-production stage; "Faith's Corner" is expected to be launched this year.
Source: BuaNews
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