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There are an estimated 25 000 people working in the South African film and video industry.
The film industry has gained impetus recently with a number of Oscars being won at Academy Awards ceremonies:
At the 2005 Academy Awards ceremony, Charlize Theron won the Oscar for best actress for her role in the film, "Monster".
At the 2006 Oscars the film "Tsotsi" won the Oscar for best foreign language film. Some of the stars in the film were Terry Pheto, Bonginkosi "Zola" Dlamini and Presley Chweneyagae. In the film, Pheto plays the role Tsotsi's friend and Zola is a gang leader who operates a chop-shop. Tsotsi was directed by Gavin Hood. Gavin Hood's acceptance speech: "God bless Africa. Wow. I have a speech, it's in my pocket, but that thing says 38 seconds. But mine's way too long. Go to tsotsi.com and there is a huge long list of people. Because I'm accepting this not for myself. This is for best foreign language film. It is sitting right there to start with. Please stand up Presley Chweneyagae and Terry Pheto. My two fantastic young leads. Put the cameras on them, please. Viva Africa. Viva. I've got 10 seconds. Ten seconds I just want to thank my fellow nominees who I've become deep friends with. We may have foreign language films, but our stories are the same as your stories. They're about human heart and emotion. It says please wrap. Thank you so much. Thank you to the Academy. Thank you."
Tsotsi was funded to the tune of R12million by the Industrial Development Corporation. Aside from Leon Schuster's movies, Tsotsi is the highest grossing South African film to date (27 March 2006).