Portal:African cinema/Selected score/9
U-Carmen eKayelitsha is a 2005 South African operatic film directed and produced by Mark Dornford-May. The musical score blends Bizet’s original opera with traditional African music, directed and conducted by British Conductor Charles Hazlewood. The film was shot entirely in Xhosa and combines the musical elements to tell a story set in the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha. The cast did not have prior film experience and only rehearsed for four weeks before recording the live musical numbers on a set without additional editing. The story follows Carmen and her troubled relationship with Jongikhaya against the backdrop of a South African township. The film received critical acclaim and won the Golden Bear Award at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.