It’s been brought to my attention that South Africa has selected their official Foreign-Language Oscar submission. And that lucky film that could see its name in lights next spring during the Academy Awards ceremony is: White Wedding, a film that’s gotten some coverage previously on this blog, back in April.

If approved by the Oscars Academy Award Selection Committee, White Wedding will then represent South Africa as a nominee in the Foreign Language Category of the Oscars in 2010. The film has since run for eleven consecutive weeks in a total of 43 cinemas across South Africa. Director Jann Turner had this to say “We’ve watched every kind of local audience watching our movie, and what every screening has had in common are the smiles on people’s faces when they leave the theatre. I am elated with the way SA audiences have received the film.”

Recall in 2006, the South African entry in the foreign-language Oscar category, Tsotsi, went on to win the award – a coup for South Africa at the time.

Synopsis and trailer follow below:

The loyal, committed and very decent Elvis (Kenneth Nkosi) leaves Johannesburg on Tuesday en route to pick up his best friend and best man Tumi (Rapulana Seiphemo) in Durban. The two will then journey on to Cape Town to begin rehearsals for Elvis’s wedding to the beautiful Ayanda (Zandile Msutwana) at an upmarket hotel in glamorous palm-fringed Camps Bay under the cloak of Table Mountain.

But things don’t go according to plan. Tumi, a serial flirt, has a spat with his girlfriend that leads to his car being rendered unusable; eventually the duo get on their way but Tumi’s short-cuts don’t end up making up for lost time.

As Tumi and Elvis struggle to find their way through the Eastern Cape they are picked up by Rose (Jodie Whittaker), a young English doctor who fled the altar after discovering her fiancée was serially unfaithful to her. Now there’s an unlikely trio on the road, with romantic sparks igniting between the flirtatious Tumi and their spirited British companion. Who knows if they’ll make it on time, whether the wedding will be delayed or canceled or come perilously close to not even happening, if Ayanda ditches dependable Elvis for dashing Tony, the township boy turned flashy entrepreneur.

To my knowledge, it hasn’t screened anywhere outside of South Africa, and I certainly haven’t seen it. But, if it does get Academy consideration, there’s a very good chance to I’ll have the opportunity.

Here’s its trailer:

via NVFV