Sony Pictures Classics have put their hands on a Cannes’ Un Certain Regard title that Variety calls “a sun-scorched African version of recent Sundance hit “Winter’s Bone.” Directed by German/South African helmer Oliver Schmitz (you may recognize his name as among the Paris, Je t’aime participants) Life, Above All is based on Allan Stratton’s book Chanda’s Secrets and counts as strictly adult fare programming. No release date has been attached, but SPC will surely show this among festivals this Fall (TIFF would be a shoe-in) and will probably place this theatrically in 2011. Check out the lengthier synopsis after the jump.
Just after the death of her newly-born baby sister, Chanda, 12 years old, learns of a rumor that spreads like wildfire through her small, dust-ridden village near Johannesburg. It destroys her family and forces her mother to flee. Sensing that the gossip stems from prejudice and superstition, Chanda leaves home and school in search of her mother and the truth. In the dusty small town of Elandsdoorn, a South African township not far from Johannesburg, life is simple and serene. A prevailing sense of deep pride tightly bonds together the entire community – but beware to those who step out of line…12-year-old Chanda is a hardworking promising young student with a bright future, but her life changes dramatically when her baby sister unexpectedly dies. Heartbroken, Chanda’s mother, Lillian, in turn becomes severely ill. Her stepfather drowns himself in alcohol, leaving the young girl to take care of her two smaller siblings. Meanwhile, the formerly friendly neighbors become increasingly distant and gossip spreads. “Auntie” Tafa does what she can to help by getting Lillian to leave town, but not even “Auntie” is immune to the cloud of fear filtering across Elandsdoorn. Suspecting that the community’s irrational ostracism has to do with her mother’s illness and the death of her baby sister, Chanda demands answers but is met with stubborn silence. Unwilling to bear the weight of secrecy any longer, Chanda sets out to face a deeply engrained, unspoken taboo…
