Local talent makes waves
JOBURG – Zulu Wedding, a traditional and locally brewed film, that's finally hitting Cinemas nationwide. Read here for more.
Zulu Wedding is the much-anticipated romantic comedy from producer and director, Lineo Sekeleoane.
This is a first in South Africa when a black female producer and director, also created the concept for the film.
Unashamedly romantic, glamorous and hilarious all at the same time, the film pays loving tribute to the richness of African culture. It acknowledges the, sometimes schizophrenic, reality of many urban South Africans who live sophisticated modern lives which are nonetheless shaped by their family cultures, traditions and expectations.
The film is set to open in cinemas nationwide on 23 February 2018.
Read: A traditional ensemble
Feisty choreographer, Lou or Lungile (Nondumiso Tembe), will do anything to avoid falling in love; even more, to avoid going home to South Africa, where she’s traditionally engaged to a king. However, when she meets her soul mate Tex (Darrin Dewitt Henson) she is forced to confront the tradition she’s been running away from since the death of her parents when she turned 18, and the ancestral debt they left her.
She hatches a plan to confront the king and convince him to forget about her, but when she prevails upon handsome royal advisor Zulu (Pallance Dladla), to help her get into the royal compound, he proves to be a dangerously seductive charmer, one who seems to represent all the best aspects of her background.
According to Sekeleoane, the film was 10 years in the making, “The idea started in the emergency room of a hospital as I formulated a joke scenario for an actress friend of mine. She liked the scenario and the character, an insane traffic cop by the name of Mabo who never takes off her uniform. As I started to shape that character’s world, the focus of the narrative shifted to her sister, Lou, and Zulu Wedding was born.”
Sekeleoane added that Mabo remains an important character though, and is brilliantly brought to life by Makgano Mamabolo and that the entire cast was amazing. “After doing castings in New York, Los Angeles and Johannesburg and seeing hundreds of people over several years, I can truly say that we were blessed. Every person brought something special to the project.”
