The Audience prize went to South African Fanie Fourie's Lobola directed by Henk Pretorius. The awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Seattle Space Needle. The 25-day festival, which began on 16 May 2013, featured over 447 films representing 85 countries, including 49 World (18 features, 31 shorts), 48 North American (38 features, 10 shorts), 17 US Premieres (6 features, 11 shorts), and over 700 screenings. Additionally, SIFF brought in more than 400 filmmakers, actors and industry professionals.
"Our most successful festival in the history of SIFF is ending on a high note and setting an exciting precedent for the future with Fanie Fourie's Lobola from our inaugural African Pictures programming taking home the top audience prize for best film with a Golden Space Needle Award," said SIFF artistic and co-director Carl Spence. "With once-in-a-lifetime experiences including country western rock band The Maldives performing a haunting score to Victor Sjöström's 1928 classic film The Wind and the opportunity for audiences to meet more than 200 directors with their films across 25 days with massive attendance illustrated once again that Seattle has the most engaged, lively and active audiences of any city in the US."
"Fanie Fourie's Lobola is proving to be a favourite with cinema goers and had previously won audience awards at the Sedona International Film Festival in Arizona, and the Jozi Film Festival," said producers Lance Samuels and Kweku Mandela from Out of Africa Entertainment.
"We are very excited that it won this award at the Seattle International Film Festival, which is a high-profile, big event. It is wonderful to see how our film has transcended cultural boundaries. We are so proud and honoured," added co-writer and producer Janine Eser.
Fanie Fourie's Lobola opened in South Africa on 1 March 2013 to much critical acclaim and is at number four on the industry top ten, ahead of Argo and The Last Stand, and just behind Hansel and Gretel, Wreck-It Ralph, and A Good Day To Die Hard. It tells the tale of what happens when an Afrikaans boy and a Zulu girl fall in love and have to navigate their way through the complicated process of lobola.
The film stars talented newcomer Zethu Dlomo as Dinky and film and comedy favourite, Eduan van Jaarsveld as the affable Fanie, and a supporting cast including Jerry Mofokeng, Marga van Rooy, Chris Chameleon, Lillian Dube, and Motlatsi Mafatshe. It is produced by Lance Samuels, Kweku Mandela and Janine Eser, and directed by Henk Pretorius, who also co-wrote the script with Eser. The film is the first from Once Upon a Story, a script development initiative headed by veteran industry leader Paul Raleigh and Eser.
For further information on Fanie Fourie's Lobola, go to www.Faniefouriemovie.com.
The official trailer can be viewed here:
