The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris, which was acquired for distribution in South Africa by Videovision Entertainment,  has been nominated for four Academy Awards.  The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Woody Allen), Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen) and Best Art Direction (Anne Seibel).

The film, which opened in South Africa on 30 December 2011, stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates,  Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen, Lea Seydoux, and Carla Bruni.  Since its release in the country, the film has performed consistently well at the box office with many people seeing it more than once, and has grossed over R1.5 million to date, with the highest screen average for any Woody Allen film ever released in South Africa.

Midnight In Paris is a romantic comedy about a family on a business trip in Paris. As a young couple engaged to be married experiences a profound transformation during their visit to Paris, an idealistic man with a romanticized view of the city finds that there is plenty of truth to that old adage about the grass being greener on the other side.

Sanjeev Singh, Director of Acquisition and Distribution for Videovision Entertainment commented, "We premiered the film at DIFF in July last year and we were confident that the film will receive Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award nominations, and therefore held the SA release until the award season."

South Africa’s home-grown heist movie, 31 MILLION REASONS opened in cinemas around the country last Friday grossing almost R320,000 off only 27 digital prints in the first three days.  The film also featured on the industry Top 10 listing for the weekend.   Proof that local is definitely becoming lekker for cinema goers!

“It was very satisfying to hit our targets on opening weekend,” commented producer Ross Garland.  “We benefited from a concentrated campaign from Nu Metro Films and great social media buzz about the film after the premieres last week. Audiences really got behind us in KZN, which is perhaps not surprising with Durban appearing as a key character in the movie.”