Film poster for 'Lobola: A Bride's True Price?' featuring a woman with large horns against a blue background.

When an opinionated filmmaker gets engaged, she must choose between rejecting lobola, the traditional bride‑price paid by a groom, or honoring the cultural custom that challenges her modern beliefs about marriage.

LOBOLA, A BRIDE'S TRUE PRICE?

Name: LOBOLA, A BRIDE'S TRUE PRICE?
Brand: When an opinionated filmmaker gets engaged, she must choose between rejecting lobola, the traditional bride‑price paid by a groom, or honoring the cultural custom that challenges her modern beliefs about marriage.
SKU: Lobola, A Bride's True Price?
Price: 135.0 USD
Availability: InStock

$135.00

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BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING; BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) | BEST DOCUMENTARY, Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) | BEST DOCUMENTARY AFRICA, Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) | ADIAHA AWARD (RUNNER-UP), BEST DOCUMENTARY BY AN AFRICAN WOMAN, Encounters South African International Documentary Festival

Lobola as a Living Cultural Practice • Women’s Agency in African Marriage Practices • Marriages • Economics • Social Value • Spirituality and Ancestral Continuity • Queer Belonging in African Traditions • Intercultural Negotiation and Hybrid Identities

March 2014. Filmmaker Sihle Hlophe has just gotten engaged. A few days later, her father passes 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 practise. In an effort to learn more about Lobola before making her final decision, Sihle attends the Lobola ceremonies of three other couples.

Couple No.1 is a Zulu couple from Katlehong, Gauteng. The negotiations are almost halted when the groom’s family fails to raise the amount requested by the bride’s family. Couple No. 2 is from Tokoza, Gauteng. The groom is Tsonga and the bride is Sotho. 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. Couple No.3’s wedding took place in Eastern Cape but they're based in Kwa Zulu Natal. The bride is Xhosa and the groom is Zulu. Even though the bride’s father passed away 20 years ago, he was honoured as if he was alive during the proceedings.

Sihle also visits a same-sex couple who've been married for 14 years. They were the first couple to get married under the Civil Union Act in 2006. They're deeply rooted in African Spirituality so it was imperative for them to go through the Lobola process too. After years of vacillating, Sihle comes to an important realisation - 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?

University of Johannesburg | Anetha Khanyayo, Masters Student, Author of A woman's worth? : customary marriage and the subordination of black South African women in Lauretta Ngcobo's And they didn't die, Malebo Sephodi's Miss Behave, and Sihle Hlophe's Lobola, a bride's true price?
"In Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?, Hlophe suggests that women can make decisions about lobola that challenge dominant and oppressive societal norms, insisting on women’s agency within the context of customary marriage."

Bubblegum Club | Nkamoheleng Moshoeshoe, Writer
"This is an investigative piece of not only the physical but the spiritual as well. The premise of the documentary is the journey of director Sihle Hlophe and her decision to marry her boyfriend and what that does to her stance on her feminist ideals as this decision intersects with a very widely known cultural practice across South Africa and the African continent: Lobola"

Encounters South African International Documentary Festival | Adiaha Jury
“This film is sure to spark debate. A brave and intimate portrait where filmmaker, Sihle Hlophe shows her vulnerability and takes us on a journey with exclusive access to a widely practiced tradition of bride price."

Between 10and5.com
"Fuelled by the tensions between the director’s own beliefs, her desire to please her family and respect her culture and ancestors, the film echoes tensions similar in cultures the world over, in terms of shifting gender roles in the 21st century."

AWARDS
Awladna Pan-African Women In Film Award | Pan African Women in Film Competition
Adiaha Award (Runner-up), Best Documentary by an African Woman | Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
Best Achievement in Directing & Best Documentary Feature | South African Film & Television Awards (SAFTAs)
Best Documentary Africa | Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF)
Best Documentary | Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA)
Best Documentary | National Film & Television Awards
Best Documentary Southern Africa | Zambia International Film Festival

FESTIVALS
Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF)
Durban International Film Festival
Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
African Film Festival New York
Pan African Film Festival
Zanzibar International Film Festival

The film has screened in over 30 international film festivals, also been featured in numerous public and community screenings across Africa.