South Africa has gotten its Oscar contender in under the wire, picking Muneera Sallies’s music-themed drama Old Righteous Blues as its contender for the 97th Academy Awards in the best international feature category.

South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation (Nfvf) announced the pick, which was chosen by the South African Academy Awards Selection Committee. Sallies’ drama follows a young man who tries to unite his divided community through the power of music.

Ayden Croy stars as Hantjie Jansen, a young man who plays in his town’s Kerskoor (Christmas choir) who is passed over for the choir’s top job as trommelmajoor (drum major) when his uncle, Oom Jakwes (Ivan Abrahams) retires. The snub is a result of a decades-old feud going back to a choice by Croy’s father that split the fabulous Old Righteous Blues Kerskoor into two rival bands and has divided the community every since.