SABC 1 is thrilled to bring Mzansi viewers an exciting and thought-provoking 2-part docu-series, “Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?” to premiere on the free air channel on Monday the 27th of March and Monday the 3rd of April at 21h00 CAT. “Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?”, directed and produced by Sihle Hlophe, follows the newly engaged filmmaker as she turns the camera on herself and shares her reservations about the transactional, patriarchal and heteronormative elements concerning Lobola.
In an effort to learn more about the practice before making her final decision, Sihle attends the Lobola ceremonies of three other couples. Their cultures collide during the negotiations, making it abundantly clear that they have different understandings of what Lobola is and how it should be conducted.
The most contested themes in the film are socially constructed gender roles, the significance of African Spirituality, the monetisation of Lobola and the evolution of African Culture. How far have we come and how far do we still need to go? Sihle also finds herself in a challenging position regarding her own Lobola negotiations following her father’s passing. Sihle is left wondering who will receive her Lobola now that her father is no more. In Southern Africa and other parts of the continent, bride price or Lobola is a cultural practice that unites the families of two people who want to marry and their respective ancestors. The process involves the groom-to-be paying a ‘price’ in the form of livestock, money or both to the bride-to-be’s family.
“Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?” recently had its world premiere at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, USA in February 2023. It was the runner-up of the Adiaha Award for Best Documentary Film by an African Woman at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival (2022) and a nominee in the Best Documntarycategory at the Africa Academy Movie Awards (2022). Now the two-part docu-series will be aired on a free-to-air channel, ensuring that the conversations posed in the docu-series reach as many South Africans as possible. “We are humbled to bring the much anticipated Lobola, A Bride’s True Price? to households across South Africa. We aim to expose wives and brides-to-be to the legalities surrounding customary marriages, different marital regimes, their marital rights etc.”, Nondumiso Masache, Impact Producer.
“Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?” was produced by award-winning film-driven social enterprise, Passion Seed Communications (PSC). The film was created by a team of talented and dynamic women, including female cinematographer, Kutlwano Mabusela and BAFTA and Peabody winning director/producer, Xoliswa Sithole, who came on board as Consulting Producer. The film’s director and main character SihleHlophe Hlophe is a multi-award winning filmmaker whose work has been recognised with numerous accolades including a SAFTA and two Africa Movie Academy Award nominations. “Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?” was funded by the Hot Docs Blue Ice Group Fund (Canada), the National Film & Video Foundation (South Africa), the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the Gauteng Film Commission.
“Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?” will air on SABC 1 on Monday the 27th of March and Monday the 3rd of April at 21h00 CAT to audiences across the country and neighbouring countries. Be sure to catch the premiere episode of this thought provoking two-part docu-series.
