South Africa out of 2020's Oscars foreign film race although 1 African film - Atlantics from Senegal - manages to make the 92nd Adacemy Awards foreign film shortlist.

South Africa’s official entry, Knuckle City from director Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, didn’t make the so-called "December shortlist" for the International Feature Film category of the 92nd Academy Awards although an African film did make the cut: Senegal’s Atlantics from Mati Diop making her directorial debut with the film.

It’s the first time Senegal has a film entry in the Top 10 round of the Oscar’s International Feature Film category which was previously known as the Foreign Language Film category.

From the 91 eligible foreign films, 10 are going through with the final five nominees in the category that will be announced in January 2020. 

This year two further African countries – Ghana with Azalia and Nigeria with Lionheart – submitted films in the category for the first time. In November the Academy disqualified Nigeria’s entry saying the film’s dialogue is predominantly in English and therefore not allowed.

The 10 films going through to the next round are The Painted Bird (Czech Republic), Truth and Justice (Estonia), Les Misérables (France), Those Who Remained (Hungary), Honeyland (North Macedonia), Corpus Christi (Poland), Beanpole (Russia), Atlantics (French: Atlantique) (Senegal), Parasite (South Korea), and Pain and Glory (Spain).

Atlantics is a supernatural drama revolving around an exploited construction worker who falls in love with a woman who is forced into an arranged marriage with another man. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Grand Prix, the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d’Or.

Nominations for the 92nd Oscars will be announced on Monday 13 January 2020 with the award ceremony that will take place on Sunday 9 February 2020 and that will be broadcast on M-Net (DStv 101).

Mzansi Magic's Knuckle City from director Jahmil X.T. Qubeka is South Africa's entry for the 92nd Oscars best foreign film category.

Mzansi Magic's Knuckle City, the new film from director Jahmil X.T. Qubeka and produced by Yellowbone Entertainment for Mzansi Magic Movies has been chosen as South Africa’s official entry for the best foreign film category for the 92nd Academy Awards.

Makhosazana Khanyile, CEO of the National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF), made the announcement after the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). 

"What an amazing journey Knuckle City has had thus far, the film is as hard-hitting as its title suggests. It's quintessentially South African but also a very universal tale and touches on so many themes making it dark and relatable all at once," said Khosi Khanyile.

"I think Jahmil is a fearless storyteller and we wish this film the very best as it competes on an international scale."

Knuckle City that has Thembekile Komani, Siv Ngesi, Faniswa Yisa, Awethu Hleli, Nomhle Nkonyeni, Zolisa Xaluva, Owen Sejake and Angela Sithole as part of the cast, follows an ageing Eastern Cape boxer Dudu Nyakama (Bongile Mantsai) who tries one last time at a chance for success.

Set in the rural Eastern Cape town of Mdantsane, Knuckle City follows the descent of two brothers into a hellish life as they are driven to the brink by toxic masculinity. "We are exceptionally proud of this achievement," says Layla Swart, producer, who co-owns Yellowbone Entertainment with Jahmil X.T. Qubeka.

"It's a harrowing tale of a man lost, who tries to look after his family even as he is trapped in the seedy world of underground boxing. The film packs an emotional punch as hefty as any of the gruesome on-screen ones as it explores greedy commercial exploitation, poverty, violence, race, and what it means to be a man." 

 Knuckle City is distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution (IFD) and is Jahmil X.T. Qubeka's 4th feature film. The film will be released in South Africa on 26 December 2019.

In April the Academy Awards decided to rename the foreign language film category to the international feature film category.