CINXE.COM

<!doctype html public "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN"> <html> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.writingstudio.co.za:80/page4513.html","20140425030432","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1398395072"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Publisher 2000"> <title>Page Title</title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" link="#0066ff" vlink="#6633cc" text="#000000" background="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/back.gif" topmargin="0" leftmargin="0"> <a name="top"></a> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="75" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="185" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="12" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="60" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="8" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="185" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="11" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="162" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="12" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="268" height="1"></td> <td><img src="/web/20140425030432im_/http://www.writingstudio.co.za/_blnk.gif" width="4" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="75" height="9"></td> <td width="185"></td> <td width="12"></td> <td width="60"></td> <td width="8"></td> <td width="185"></td> <td width="11"></td> <td width="162"></td> <td width="12"></td> <td width="268"></td> <td width="4"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="9"></td> <td width="185" height="119" colspan="1" rowspan="4" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="185" height="118" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#847658"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="177"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="111"></td> <td width="177" height="111" valign="top" align="left"> <center>the <center>writing <center>studio </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td colspan="5"></td> <td width="446" height="113" colspan="4" rowspan="3" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="445" height="113" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#f1eedf"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="438"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="105"></td> <td width="438" height="105" valign="top" align="left"> <center>Explore your talent as a writer <center>If you want to write for film, theatre or fiction, <center>learn the fundamentals of building and telling a compelling story, and how to effectively dramatise <center>ideas, characters and plot. <center><a href="page1305.html">Read more about our workshops, courses and services</a> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100"></td> <td></td> <td width="253" height="100" colspan="3" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="253" height="100" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#e8e3ca"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="246"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="92"></td> <td width="246" height="92" valign="top" align="left"> <center>Let's go to the movies with Daniel Dercksen <center> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="4"></td> <td colspan="5"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="6"></td> <td colspan="9"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="8"></td> <td colspan="10"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="37"></td> <td width="903" height="37" colspan="9" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="903" height="37" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#f1eedf"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="895"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="30"></td> <td width="895" height="30" valign="top" align="left"> <center>The Art of South African Filmmaking Fanie Fourie's Lobola </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="8"></td> <td colspan="10"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="34"></td> <td width="903" height="34" colspan="9" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="903" height="34" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#fff6f0"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="895"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="26"></td> <td width="895" height="26" valign="top" align="left"> <a href="page4521.html">Interview with Henk Pretorius</a>   <a href="page613.html">South African filmmaking</a>        <a href="page1037.html">Back to film page</a>      <a href="index.html">Home</a> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="7"></td> <td colspan="10"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="2268"></td> <td width="257" height="2268" colspan="3" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="257" height="2267" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#f1eedf"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="249"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="2260"></td> <td width="249" height="2260" valign="top" align="left"> Fanie Fourie's Lobola is a South African romantic comedy about an Afrikaans guy (Eduan van Jaarsveldt) and a Zulu girl (Zethu Dlomo) who fall in love and have to navigate their way through the complicated process of lobola - the traditional Zulu bride price. Filled with humorous but hard-hitting social commentary, the film is a contemporary fairytale about love and tradition in a rapidly evolving society. Fanie Fourie's Lobola was inspired by the book of the same name, written by Nape à Motana. A Sepedi, he writes the book from an Afrikaner's perspective, and deals with the subject of inter-racial relationships with humour and candour. Although 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' expectations of them. But as they navigate their way through lobola their relationship falls apart. Negotiating lobola, the process when a man or his family pays a certain amount to the bride's family in order to obtain the right for the man to marry their daughter - 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. "In both Afrikaans and Zulu cultures, family comes first," says producer Kweku Mandela. "Fanie 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's 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." 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's father Dumisani, 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. From Dinky's 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. "What 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," says Mandela. "But, like all traditional customs, it is open to abuse and distortion in the modern world and Dumisani himself proves to be a little greedy." </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td></td> <td width="358" height="2272" colspan="3" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="358" height="2271" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#f1eedf"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="350"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="2264"></td> <td width="350" height="2264" valign="top" align="left"> A Lobola well worth paying Daniel Dercksen reviews Fanie Fourie's Lobola, rating 5/5 Inspired visionary Henk Pretorius' Fanie Fourie's Lobola is a heavenly Romeo and Juliet fable that happily buries old worn-out issues and cliché's and celebrates an optimistic New South Africa. With heartfelt honesty, passion and catching wit, 30-year-old Pretorius knows how to tell a story that unites his upbeat age group with older generations whose futile views of life in South Africa are less hopeful. The 3-years he has invested writing the screenplay with Janine Eser (inspired by Nape à Motana' novel), is now paying off, big time. What makes a story truly original is not what you say, but how you express yourself, and with Fanie Fourie's Lobola, Pretorius and his team deliver a refreshing and well crafted film. Pretorius spins moments of absolute magic with his subtle and skilful telling: when Fanie (Eduan van Jaarsveldt), an atypical white Afrikaner collects Dinky (Zethu Dlomo) , a non-traditional Zulu girl from the township for their first date, her appearance is reminiscent of a Cinderella mirage, and like a princess, she is on her way to the ball, gloriously dressed in a shimmering green ball gown surrounded by a sea of colourless rural shacks and escorted by her very own prince on a white horse. Fanie's reaction to her natural beauty sums up his earthy and honest humanity, when he catches his breath and says that she looks "exquisite!" The humour that stems from this intimate encounter is priceless and shows how important it is to say what we feel, no matter what other people see. And yes, there are equally brilliant satirical moments that reveal the nature of elitist and snobbish white society (who pays to have the dark pixel removed out of a group family photo), or the idle ignorance of township boys having a party in their backyard to the disturbance of the neighbourhood and being snubbed by Fanie who gives Dinky an universal remote to control their boom box. When Fanie falls head over heels in love, it is real, and he does not give his newfound love dull flowers, but a floral display you will never forget. With Fanie, Pretorius makes it clear that love does not have any boundaries and most definitely not imprisoned by traditions or conventions. And when Fanie the 'artist panel beater' proudly shows off his work of art - battered car wrecks in the process of ultimate transformation in his garage - to a gorgeous white girl who carries the approval of his conservative mother (Marga van Rooy), Pretorius waves his wand. Fanie flicks a switch to reveal his magical world through a chorus of neon lights that illuminates his dreams. Like most South Africans, Fanie's bigger-than-life dreams shine brighter than the Rainbow of our new nation and are powered by his unrelenting determination to make a better life for himself and show the world who he is without having to be ashamed of anything. Dreams are there to re-charge our failed aspirations, and with Fanie Fourie's Lobola the recharge comes with a bonus makeover. As with Bakgat and its sequel, Pretorius knows his market well and with Fanie Fourie's Lobola fortunately takes a bold step forward to bravely remove the blinders off others who refuse to embrace the differences that separate. Pretorius makes it clear that idealists all have a price to pay and that it takes more than good old fashioned bribery and corruption, or 30 cows, to affect real transformation. The visual impact of Fanie Fourie's Lobola is not mere 'Kodak moments', but skillfully accentuates the emotional journey of its characters; the visual dynamics tells its own story and amplifies the theme and probes the surface of what we see. When Fanie's conservative uncle (Richard van der Westhuizen)  cracks racial jokes in the presence of his black gardener (Yule Masiteng), there is something uncomfortable familiar about the situation. When the gardener cracks a joke about black people calling two old white people on a farm an ATM, the uncomfortable silence, followed by raucous laughter, shows two different sides of South Africa. Pretorius is also blessed with a heavenly cast. Zethu Dlomo shines in her role of Dinky, and is adequately described by Pretorius as our very own Marilyn Monroe, with Eduan van Jaarsveldt perfectly capturing the essence of every man in South Africa. They are well supported by Marga van Rooy and Richard van der Westhuizen as Fanie's conservative family, with Jerry Mofokeng as Dinky's Zulu 'warrior' father. The film also has a superb soundtrack that features a number of popular and lesser-known local artists, featuring the music of . Hip Hop Pantsula, Jack Parow, Freshlyground, Radio Kalahari Orkes, Lira, Mi Casa, Teargas, Bongo Maffin and fokofpolisiekar, as well as a few underground tracks from Mix n Blend, Richard the 3rd and P.H.Fat. A highlight of the film is Chris Chameleon in the role of Fanie's successful brother Sarel, a cheesy Afrikaans pop star.  As a well-known singer himself, his contribution to the film, and all the songs he wrote with Hunter Kennedy (Die Heuwels Fantasties/fokofpolisiekar ) and Fred Den Hartog (Die Heuwels Fantasties) is truly brilliant. The music poignantly underscores the comedic and dramatic journey of the characters and perfectly marries word and image with lasting impact. We need films like Fanie Fourie's Lobola to show how the best of two broken worlds can unite into a harmonious whole to celebrate the realities of an idealistic world crippled by unrealistic aspirations or wrongful motives. It also shows that there is much more to paying your Lobola than delivering cows, it's about understanding and respecting the cultural differences that separate, and embrace a new world that outshines the old. It is one of this films you can share with others who might not see the world you do, and at the end of the screening it is guaranteed that you will have made new friends. Fanie Fourie's Lobola is a film that everyone can enjoy with its English subtitles and message that transcends our borders. Copyright © 2013 Daniel Dercksen </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td></td> <td width="268" height="2276" colspan="1" rowspan="3" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="268" height="2275" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#e8e3ca"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="3" height="3"></td> <td width="261"></td> <td width="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="2267"></td> <td width="261" height="2267" valign="top" align="left"> Henk Pretorius (Director, Screenplay) Henk Pretorius received his BA Drama Degree with honours from AFDA in 2003. In 2005 he landed the role of the mentally disturbed boy, Henré, in Egoli. He was also appointed as the script assistant on Villa Rosa, where he helped to develop new storylines. In 2007 he wrote the script for Bakgat!. The movie was released countrywide in 2008 by Ster Kinekor. Bakgat! was a box office hit in South Africa that made 120% profit. In 2008 he joined the writing team of City Ses'la, the most popular comedy series on South African television. He also helped write Askies, a new comedy series that was broadcasted on SABC 2. Henk played the leading roles in Kruispad, a kykNet series that was written and produced by the wellknown Deon Opperman. In 2009 Henk undertook and completed the script and directing of Bakgat! 2. The movie made 100% more than Bakgat 1 at the South African box office and is the second most successful Afrikaans film ever made. Fanie Fourie's Lobola is his first international feature film. Janine Eser (Producer, Screenplay) After completing her Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Art at the University of the Witwatersrand Janine worked as an actress on stage and screen in South Africa, Europe and the United States. She began her development career at British Screen in London and subsequently worked with numerous film development funds in Europe and the United States. In South Africa, she produced and developed Gavin Hood's The Storekeeper, was the script editor on A Reasonable Man and the script editor and Associate Producer on the Academy Award Winning Tsotsi. Janine has worked as a script doctor for A-List writers in the United States and as a script consultant for high profile production companies such as Michael Douglas' Further Films. Since 2008 she has been the Head of Development for Once Upon a Story, a South African screenplay development fund. Nape à Motana (Author of the novel Fanie Fourie's Lobola) Nape à Motana has been in the cultural trenches for decades participating in literary readings with most of the stalwarts of the struggle years and involving himself in the organisations that nurtured them, such as Africa Writers Union (AWA), COSAW, and Staffrider. Nape qualified as a social worker at University of the North in 1970. He worked as a journalist for the Post newspaper before it was banned. He was also an advertising copywriter and an industrial journalist. His play The Honeymoon is Over won the "The New Voices Award" in 1995. He is the author of Sepedi Proverbs, a poetry collection published in 2004, Fanie Fourie's Lobola and Son-in-Law of the Boere. </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="3"></td> <td colspan="2"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="4"></td> <td colspan="4"></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="4"></td> <td colspan="8"></td> <td></td> </tr> </table> <a name="bottom"></a> </body> </html>