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Oliver Hermanus

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Name
  
Oliver Hermanus


Role
  
Film director

Oliver Hermanus Oliver Hermanus Photos quotSkoonheidquot Photocall 64th

Education
  
University of California, Santa Barbara, London Film School, University of Cape Town

Awards
  
Golden Horn Award for Best Director in a Feature Film

Nominations
  
Golden Lion, Grand Jury Prize

Movies
  
Beauty, The Endless River, Shirley Adams

Similar People
  
Deon Lotz, Charlie Keegan, Denise Newman, Morne Visser

Oliver hermanus on obsession cine fils com


Oliver Hermanus (born 1983, Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African film director and writer. His films include Shirley Adams (2009), Beauty (Skoonheid) (2011), and The Endless River (2015). His film Beauty won the Queer Palm Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Contents

Oliver Hermanus Oliver Hermanus Pictures quotSkoonheidquot Photocall 64th

Oliver hermanus best advice tiff 2015


Early life and career

Oliver Hermanus Oliver Hermanus Design Indaba

Hermanus was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and holds a BA in Film, Media, and Visual Studies from the University of Cape Town. He initially worked as a press photographer for the Cape Argus newspaper. In 2006, Hermanus received a private scholarship to attend the London Film School, where he earned his master's degree in film.

Shirley Adams

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Hermanus's first film, Shirley Adams, released in 2009, relates the story of a single mother raising her paraplegic son, who was injured during a gang fight. Hermanus has stated that he got the idea for the film from his sister, an occupational therapist, who told him the story of a teenage boy paralysed in a shooting incident.

Oliver Hermanus Oliver Hermanus Pictures quotSkoonheidquot Portrait Session

Shirley Adams premiered at the Durban International Film Festival in 2009 where the film received awards for Best South African Film, Best First Film, and Best Actress for Denise Newman. The film was shown in competition at the Locarno Film Festival and was also shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film also won awards for Best Film and Best Director at the 2009 South African Film and Television Awards.

Beauty

Oliver Hermanus oliver hermanus Katlego Kganyago

Beauty (known as Skoonheid in Afrikaans) was the fifth South African movie to be selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival and the first in Afrikaans. The film won the 2011 Queer Palm Award for best picture, and Hermanus won the 2012 South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) for Best Director. Lead actor Deon Lotz won the 2012 SAFTA for Best Actor in a Feature Film for his role in Beauty, as well as Best Actor at the Zurich Film Festival. Beauty was also part of the Official Selection 2011 for the Prize Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.

Beauty relates the story of François, a married, closeted, middle-aged Afrikaner, who becomes obsessed with a handsome young lawyer, Christian (played by Charlie Keegan), the son of one of his friends. Beauty was critically praised for being an "unvarnished study of the turbulence of the middle-aged male psyche, but it also addresses the current Afrikaner condition". Another critic noted that the film's original title, Skoonheid, ". . . means 'beauty' in Afrikaans but literally translates as 'cleanliness' . . . is a story about the ugly truth of confronting parts of yourself that you hate and try to suppress".

Some reviewers and critics noted that the film's subject matter and visuals could be "off-putting" and "graphic". Hermanus stated that he was grateful that the film stirred debate. "The debates on the gay issues are amazing, but I'm still yearning for the debate to start on other issues like repression and racial tensions in the movie".

Hermanus was guest of honour at "Side by Side," an international festival of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender film held in Moscow in April 2011. The filmmaker presented Beauty at the festival.

The Endless River

In 2015, Hermanus wrote and directed his third film, The Endless River. This film became the first South African film to compete for the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. Lead actress Crystal Donna Roberts also competed for the Best Actress award at the festival.

The film is set in the small town of Riviersonderend in the Overberg region of South Africa and relates the story of a French expatriate and a small-town waitress who form a bond after the brutal murder of his family on a farm. In describing Endless River, Hermanus explained, "I wanted to combine in my film a place I'm familiar with the story of violence happening in South Africa".

Awards

  • Winner, Best South African Film, Shirley Adams, 2009 Durban International Film Festival
  • Winner, Best First Film, Shirley Adams, 2009 Durban International Film Festival
  • Winner, Best Director, Shirley Adams, 2009 South African Film and Television Awards
  • Winner, Best Film, Shirley Adams, 2009 South African Film and Television Awards
  • Nominee, Prize Un Certain Regard, Beauty, 2011 Cannes Film Festival
  • Winner, Queer Palm, Beauty, 2011 Cannes Film Festival
  • Winner, Best Director, Beauty, 2012 South African Film and Television Awards
  • References

    Oliver Hermanus Wikipedia