‘A Queen’s Lobola’ sweeps awards season, bringing home top honours
Director and former Isidingo actor Ashish Gangapersad shares what makes 'A Queen's Lobola' a standout film.
The South African film industry has a new darling, and its name is A Queen’s Lobola.
This gripping agricultural heist movie has taken the awards season by storm, raking in several accolades, including Best Feature Film.
Fourways resident Ashish Gangapersad, the director of the film known for his role as Prada in SABC3’s Isidingo, basked in the glory of the film’s success and shared what made A Queen’s Lobola a standout.
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“In any field or industry, it’s always an amazing feeling to be recognised by your peers,” he said. “Making our film was a reward in and of itself. It truly was an environment in which every creative could thrive. Everyone trusted each other. Everyone also loved the story. It’s not every day you come across an ‘agricultural heist movie’, as one of my friends put it. Having experienced that feeling on set, every day was fulfilling to the point that 17 nominations and 10 awards later, it feels really good.”
One of the standout aspects of the film is its talented cast, particularly Jo-Anne Reyneke, who took home the award for Best Actress in Film.
Gangapersad praised Reyneke’s performance, saying, “She is the heart of our film. In terms of performance, she doesn’t miss a beat. Every scene, she draws you in.”
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The film also earned an award for Best Supporting Actor in Film, thanks to the memorable performance of the late Mbongeni Ngema. “You could tell he had fun on set. He brought a gravitas to the character.”
The award for Best Use of Cinematography was another highlight of the film, and Gangapersad credited the talented team behind the camera. “Our director of photography Tiyane Nyembe deserves all the credit on this one. He is a master at his craft and danced a lot on set. As a creative team, we had a lot of conversations on the looks, feels and lighting of it, led by our director Vivek Mehta. We were adventurous in shots as well – again just letting everyone’s creativity blossom.”
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With these awards under their belt, Gangapersad is looking to the future and exploring ways to leverage this recognition to reach a wider audience.
“Since the film was released on E-Vod, we’ve seen it travel to several countries, including China and the States. Awards like the Simon Sabela’s are an important pillar of our industry, creating spaces for us filmmakers to showcase our films. We’re grateful to have won last year’s awards and look forward to submitting more films for contention in the future.”
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