South African cinema has its heart set on Hollywood…
South Africa (01 October 2025) – The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has announced that The Heart Is A Muscle, written and directed by Imran Hamdulay, has been selected to represent South Africa at the 98th Academy Awards (the Oscars), in the Best International Feature Film category next year.
The film has been given its flowers internationally already, with its win of the Panorama Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, and screenings at Sydney and Cairo festivals. Now it’s carrying SA’s hopes into Hollywood.
The movie tells the story of Ryan, a young father in Cape Town whose son goes missing. The disappearance is just the beginning. What comes next is a meditation on fatherhood, masculinity, and the long shadows cast by inherited trauma. The film looks closely at intergenerational wounds on the Cape Flats, while also reaching for that universal slow, hard work of forgiveness and belonging.
Hamdulay has spoken about how the heart in this story is both fragile and strong. It’s an archive of pain and memory, but also a muscle that endures.
“The film is very close to my heart. It’s a shared story born from the voices and experiences of the community around it and we’re just so thrilled to have it as South Africa’s entry into the Academy Awards,” he said.
The lead, Keenan Arrison, delivers a career-defining performance. It’s raw and so deeply human. He plays a man fumbling toward being the father and partner he longs to be, while confronting the ghosts of his past.
Melissa de Vries, Dean Marais, Loren Loubser, Danny Ross and others round out a powerful local cast.
The selection process that got the film to this point was rigorous. A panel of 13 film professionals reviewed submissions earlier this month before making their final decision, and it was then audited for transparency.
Out of that came one clear choice. The Heart Is A Muscle.
South African stories have been knocking on Hollywood’s door for years. This one, born on the Cape Flats but reaching out to the world, just might break it wide open.
Watch the trailer here:
by 