SKIN is having a very successful release in its home country - South Africa. It has more than tripled the projected theatrical box office income and advanced rentals of the DVD are well above expectations. There was a mountain of media coverage - mostly positive - and the reviews have been terrific. I feared it might be rejected as a 'foreigner's take' on an important South African story; instead, it has been welcomed and embraced. 

 The film is also having a successful run at the Perth Festival - filling the 1200-seat outdoor cinema last weekend, and receiving a 'six stars out of five' review from a punter on ABC drive-time radio. 

http://blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2010/02/skin-film-review.html?site=perth&program=720_drive

Let's hope this will lead to a wider release in Australia.

Alas, we did not win the Image Award for Outstanding Foreign Film (or Best Actress); the former went to "The Stoning of Soraya M." and the latter to Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious". Needless to say, those films have had wider distribution than SKIN in the US - it's a tough business, the awards business, and visibility is all. But I'm not feeling too hard-done-by - lovely to be included among the nominees and we've won our fair share of accolades.

 Next step - hoping to increase SKIN's visibility in the college and schools circuit in the US, and see its success grow in South Africa. With a new distributor and sales agent on board, and a planned DVD release in the US and Canada in a few months, who knows where it will end up? To be continued...