Publications
Partners
After changing the release date three times over the past two years due to financial difficulties, the much anticipated South African romcom Zulu Wedding is set to be released next week.
This was according to director and producer of the movie, Lineo Sekeleoane, who said Capitec’s decision to get on board ensured the release of his film.
“We had to raise sufficient funding to complete the movie,” he told City Press.
“Capitec came on board and saved the day. They recognised the vision and could relate to it as they too had done the ‘impossible’ and they wanted us to get to the finish line without having to compromise what we were trying to accomplish.”
Shot and produced in South Africa, New York and Botswana, Zulu Wedding is a classically South African movie that explores the themes of love and identity through its diverse roster of actors from South Africa, the US and Nigeria.
The movie, set to hit the big screens next Friday, centres on a royal promise that cannot be dishonoured. A transatlantic love triangle. An enchanting young woman who’s torn between duty and her heart. Two charismatic potential grooms who represent wildly divergent life paths.
Lineo Sekeleoane said Zulu Wedding was a labour of love that he had been working on since 2008.
Commenting on the core theme of the film, Sekeleoane explained that: “It is an important story to me because it is about love and identity, it explores opposites and engages people from different worlds bringing them together in a unique and exciting way.”
He said the feature film showcased Zulu culture through its storyline, which conveys the complexities of marrying into the Zulu royalty.
The narrative tracks a beautiful young dancer, Lu (Luyanda) Sabata, played by Nondumiso Tembe, who’s left her life in South Africa behind and pursued a career in dance in the US.
She falls in love with a kind-hearted charmer Tex (Darrin Dewitt Henson), a debonair New Yorker who wants to make her his bride. There is, however, a complication – Lu is of royal heritage, and is bound by an ancestral debt to marry a member of the Zulu royal family, the enigmatic Zee (Zwelibanzi Sthembiso Zulu), who’s ably portrayed by Pallance Dladla.
Determined to pursue her dreams in the US, and haunted by the heartbreak of losing her parents, she returns to South Africa for her lobola ceremony and to make it clear that she will be forging her own path and not submit to the traditions being imposed on her.
Discussing the plot, Sekeleoane, said the themes in this film are love and identity, expressed in the controlling idea: “You have to know and love yourself [and where you come from] before you can truly love someone else.”
Other cast members included in this production by Luju Pictures are Kgomotso Christopher, Sthandiwe Kgoroge, Kelly Khumalo, Lorcia Cooper, Darrin Henson and Carl Payne, of the US.
Zulu Wedding is a beautifully shot movie that harnesses the skills of artists such as D’Banj, 2Baba and DJ Tira.
It is also a loving showcase of beautiful South Africa. The themes of tradition, love, and staying true to oneself are elegantly explored in this delightful romcom, which is sure to claim its place as a firm favourite on the movie circuit.
 |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
