A United Kingdom receives prestigious British nod
Sharon Mathala | Thursday November 3, 2016 15:38
Dubbed the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), nominees were released this week and South Africa’s Terry Pheto has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress for the year 2016.
In the film, Pheto plays Naledi Khama, Seretse’s sister.
Pheto was in the country last month to officially launch the film at Riverwalk Cinema. The screening was strictly private with the first family given preference to the viewing.
The BBC films made the BIFA announcements on Tuesday, where Pheto took to Twitter to share the news.
The movie stars Nigeria’s David Oyelowo (Selma) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl); and is directed by Amma Asante. The movie tells the true story of Botswana’s first president, Seretse Khama, born of royalty and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1948. Their union was in the face of fierce opposition from their families and both the British and South African governments. Seretse and Ruth defied family, apartheid and empire.
When launching the idea, the directors of the film indicated that they had sought to scoop many awards with the touching film, and it seems with just a month after its official screening the movie is proving just that.
It still remains to be seen if the film will be featured at the most prestigious of film awards, the Oscars.