The Heart Is A Muscle Movie to Represent SA at the 2026 Oscars
The Heart Is A Muscle earns the honour of representing South Africa at the 98th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
Photo credit: Silwerskermfees.
The National Film and Video Foundation has put forward The Heart Is A Muscle as the country’s official submission in the Best International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards.
The film, written and directed by Imran Hamdulay, has been gaining attention on the global festival circuit.
It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, where it walked away with the Panorama Ecumenical Jury Prize. Since then, it has screened at the Sydney Film Festival and will feature at the Cairo International Film Festival.
It follows a careful selection process, where a panel of 13 industry professionals came together to review the year’s submissions. The group included directors, producers, academics, technical experts, and distributors, all working to ensure the film chosen truly reflects the strength of South African storytelling.
The panel convened at Nu Metro Cinemas from 8 to 11 September 2025, and their final decision came on 15 September. The selection process was audited by SNG Grant Thornton.
Imran Hamdulay wrote and directed the film, with producers Adam Thal, Khosie Dali, Brett Michael Innes, and Lesley-Ann Brandt under The Star Film Company.
The cast of the Heart is a Muscle movie includes Keenan Arrison, Melissa De Vries, Loren Loubser, and Danny Ross.
The shortlist for the Best International Feature Film will be announced later this year.
What’s Is The Heart is a Muscle Movie About (Spoilers!)
Ryan is in his mid-thirties, a father celebrating his son Jude’s fifth birthday with his wife, Laila. They invite friends over for a barbecue. The children run wild with excitement while adults talk, laugh, and enjoy the food.
The lively atmosphere crashes when Jude suddenly vanishes. Panic spreads, and everyone begins searching in a frenzy. Ryan hears Jude may have wandered into an area controlled by gangs, and in fear, he drives there.
He lashes out at a man, certain he is involved, only to later realise the man is innocent. Not long after, Jude reappears, grinning over his prank, unaware of the fear he caused.
Relief floods through the group, but the day no longer feels the same. Friends argue, frustrations boil over, and Ryan’s past begins to rise to the surface.
Later, the man Ryan attacked arrives demanding money. He is also raising a young child, and his path once crossed Ryan’s during their teenage years, creating an uncomfortable history that now comes back to confront him.
The Heart is a Muscle tackles the way trauma passes from one generation to the next. Men carry the weight of what came before them, often in silence.
The story challenges the old idea that being a man means holding it in. It shows that real strength can also be found in sharing, forgiving, and facing emotions head-on. Healing doesn’t happen quickly, and the film shows the fight it takes.
The Heart is a Muscle movie made its local debut at this year’s Silwerskermfees and will arrive in cinemas in March 2026. Watch the trailer below.
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