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Township Romeo and Juliet film up for top US award

FORBIDDEN LOVE: Bongeka Shisi and Gundo Ramulifho star in Kanye Kanye.
FORBIDDEN LOVE: Bongeka Shisi and Gundo Ramulifho star in Kanye Kanye.

A TOWNSHIP Romeo and Juliet tale is taking a young local filmmaker and actors to Hollywood.

Kanye Kanye , a short film directed by Miklas Manneke, 23, has been nominated for a Student Academy Award in the Best Foreign Student Short Film category.

The awards will be held in Los Angeles in the US on June 5.

Manneke, who is studying for an honours degree in the motion picture medium at the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (Afda), regards the nomination as the biggest honour in his budding career.

The romantic comedy is about the forbidden love affair between two 17-year-old township teenagers, Thomas and Thandi.

"It is an honour for everyone involved with Kanye Kanye to be selected on this international platform, considering the high standard of the Student Oscars," Manneke said.

Bongeka Shisi, the lead actress, said: "We worked hard and rehearsed non-stop. Manneke would bring something new every day to draw inspiration from.

"He also gave us the freedom to interpret the script as we understood it . I am happy to have worked with him and I am looking forward to going to LA."

Lead actor Gundo Ramulifho, 22, who is a fourth-year live performance student at Afda, said he was surprised and happy about the good news.

- mashiloanec@timesmedia.co.za

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