U-Carmen eKhayelitsha Music By Various Artists

Georges Bizet‘s Carmen first premiered in Paris on March 3, 1875 and has since become one of the most popular operas in the world. Originally based on Prosper Merimee‘s novella and adapted into a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy, Carmen was set in a poor area of Seville and tells a visceral tale of love, jealousy, revenge, desire and madness. Carmen deals with the bleaker side of human nature, all the while celebrating its invincible spirit. U-Carmen eKhayelitsha is set in present day Khayelitsha, one of South Africa’s largest townships just outside Cape Town. The cast members of the film are all from South Africa’s ensemble lyric theatre company Dimpho Di Kopane (DDK). Dimpho Di Kopane is a lyric theatre company consisting of forty fantastically talented South African actors and singers. Their collaborative efforts resulted in a screenplay which manages to remain remarkably faithful to the original plot and presents an authentic slice of township life in South Africa. The soundtrack is a beautiful, moving operatic musical filled with triumph, meaning and a South African character all its own.