Pop Twist Entertainment launches Academy Selection at AFM

South Africa’s Academy Award® submission for Best International Feature will be launched for worldwide sales by Pop Twist Entertainment at AFM. Music Is My Life tells the story of South African musician Joseph Shabalala and his vocal group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who became global sensations after helping to shape Paul Simon’s hit album, Graceland.

Bathed in Ladysmith’s powerful music and the beauty of South Africa, the documentary covers the singer’s life from his early years in rural South Africa – at the height of apartheid – through the highpoints of his 5-time Grammy®-winning international success, to his passing, in 2020, at the age of 79. Shabalala was a major cultural figure in South Africa even before he brought his country’s culture onto the world stage.

Along with an insightful exploration of the Graceland recording sessions, the film features many of the familiar faces who worked with Shabalala, or who knew and admired him, including Dolly Parton, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and, of course, Paul Simon. Nelson Mandela was not only a huge fan but a personal friend.

Filmed over five years, the film gives extraordinary access to Shabalala’s creative process, as well as to the South African experience, its racial trauma and its evocative physical heartlands. Music Is My Life is an engaging window into what has become one of the world’s most beloved musical forms, and to the man with the beautiful, resonant voice who made it famous.

We are thrilled to release this incredibly inspiring film worldwide. Its universal message is only amplified by the specifics of the South African beauty and struggle from which this music and story arose. The result is perhaps the most powerful story that’s been told in any film this year. Like the music, it is lyrical, evocative and deeply felt.

Let’s schedule a time to discuss at AFM.