Lihle Mvelase

CAREER

Lihle Mvelase is best known for her role as Beauty, the young daughter of the title character, in the critically acclaimed 2004 South African film Yesterday, directed by Darrell James Roodt and starring Leleti Khumalo in the lead role. In the film, Beauty is the seven-year-old daughter of Yesterday, a woman living in a remote Zululand village who is diagnosed with HIV and whose primary goal becomes living long enough to see her daughter start school. The film received widespread international recognition, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and holds a high critical rating (94% on Rotten Tomatoes). This remains her primary and most widely documented screen credit. No other major film or television roles are listed in major databases such as IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, or elCinema.

Lihle Mvelase is remembered as part of the cast of one of South Africa’s most significant films of the early 2000s. Yesterday is frequently cited for its powerful portrayal of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in rural South Africa.