Lobola -A Bride’s true price (South Africa)
LENGTH: 96 Minutes
DIRECTOR: Sihle Hlophe
RATING:
Synopsis
Screening/Awards: Joburg International Film Festival 2022
Loboloa is an autobiographical documentary from SAFTA-winning filmmaker Sihle Hlophe. March 2014, Sihle has just gotten engaged. A few days later, her father has passed away. Sihle is in a serious fix – who will receive the Lobola now that her father is no more? Sihle respects Lobola but she has reservations about the transactional, patriarchal and heteronormative elements of the practice. In an effort to learn more about Lobola before making her final decision, Sihle attends the Lobola ceremonies of three other couples. After years of vacillating, Sihle comes to an important realization – Lobola is not just about uniting two families. It is also about honouring the ancestors of those two families. What will her final decision be? Will she turn her back on Lobola or will she embrace it?
