Tsotsi

What makes this moody, moving feature film a keeper? Apart from its pound sterling status as Academy Award winner for best foreign language film, Tsotsi is a South African product that doesn't hitch a ride on the back of the country's troubled - but trendy - political past.

A film about young adulthood, urban decay, moral corruption and redemption, this cinematographic gem is a good yarn. Great storytellers thread their tales with universal themes such as love, hate, war, poverty, ambition and greed. Their success lies not in a blinkered, narrow view of one society and its citizens, but rather in the ability to tell a story that you and I can identify with, no matter who we are or where we were born.

That's why Tsotsi is relevant. It's not trying to be a Great South African Story. It's just being what it is - a Great Story.