![\"labola01032013\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/labola01032013.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAlthough their relationship begins as a bit of a joke to annoy their irritating families, soon Dinky and Fanie find that they are bonded by their feelings for each other, a shared sense of humour and a desire for something more than their parents\u2019 expectations of them. But as they navigate their way through lobola their relationship falls apart.<\/p>\n
Negotiating lobola \u2013 the process when a man or his family pays a certain amount to the bride\u2019s family in order to obtain the right for the man to marry their daughter \u2013 can be a recipe for disaster in even the best of circumstances, which these certainly are not. The film explores how two families who come from entirely different cultural backgrounds can find a way to make the negotiations work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn both Afrikaans and Zulu cultures, family comes first,\u201d says producer Kweku Mandela. \u201cFanie has to go along with a member of his family to negotiate an agreement. Naturally, his relatives have no idea where to begin, so Fanie takes along his khaki-clad uncle and the family\u2019s trusted gardener Petrus. In the tradition of lobola, Petrus has no personal interest in the negotiations and only wants to do the best for Fanie and his future wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cows and cash are equally prized when it comes to lobola, but many modern families today choose cash simply because of convenience. In the film, Dinky\u2019s father Dumisani \u2013 played with much aplomb by the legendary Jerry Mofokeng — demands 30 cows from Fanie for Dinky, with some very funny results, given that he lives in a township and not on a farm.<\/p>\n
From Dinky\u2019s point of view, lobola is an outdated custom and she has many conflicting emotions around it. An aspiring businesswoman with a mind of her own, she finds the whole process a little distasteful. But the traditionalist Dumisani insists on it because it is intended to create a bond between the two families – that of the bride and of the groom.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes lobola so important for him is that it is based on mutual respect and dignity, and through the process, the love between the man and woman is expanded to include the immediate and extended families,\u201d says Mandela. \u201cBut, like all traditional customs, it is open to abuse and distortion in the modern world and Dumisani himself proves to be a little greedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the negotiations collapse and Fanie is sent packing, his mother welcomes him back to the fold, telling him that lobola has taught him he is not African. In a heart-rending moment, he responds, \u201cIf we\u2019re not African, what are we doing here?\u201d Finally seeing what Dinky means to her son, Louise encourages Fanie to try to win her back.<\/p>\n
Filled with humorous but hard-hitting social commentary, \u2018Fanie Fourie\u2019s Lobola\u2019 was inspired by the book of the same name, written by Nape \u00e0 Motana. A Sepedi, he writes the book from an Afrikaner\u2019s perspective, and deals with the subject of inter-racial relationships with humour and candour.<\/p>\n
The film is the first from Once Upon a Story, a script development initiative headed by veteran industry leader Paul Raleigh and Janine Eser, which aims to take great South African stories to the big screen and the world. It is directed by Henk Pretorius (\u2018Bakgat!\u2019, \u2018Bakgat! 2\u2019<\/em>) and is produced by Out of Africa Entertainment, the production company behind \u2018Schuks Tshabalala\u2019s Survival to 2010\u2019 and \u2018The Bang Bang Club\u2019.<\/p>\n Official website: www.faniefouriemovie.com<\/a><\/p>\n \n