Durban - The movie Valley of A Thousand Hills, the work of husband and wife team Philani and Bonie Sithebe from Durban, scooped eight awards at the 10th annual Simon “Mabhunu” Sabela Film and Television Awards on Saturday.
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Simon Sabela Awards, which is an initiative of the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs and is implemented by the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission. It recognises outstanding achievement within the South African Film and Television industry, with a special focus on KwaZulu-Natal.
The movie, which was filmed in KwaZulu-Natal, stars Sibongokuhle Nkosi and Mandisa Vilakazi and is currently on Netflix. It first aired last year.
Bonie Sithebe, who runs Durban Motion Pictures with her husband, walked away with the Best Director award. She also wrote the script while her husband Philani, produced the movie.
The movie also won Best Feature Film, Best African Film, Best Screenplay Feature, Best use of KZN as a filming location, Best isiZulu Film, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
Sithebe said the number of awards the movie won was unexpected.
“I didn't expect all of them, not at all, even though we have won an international award (Cannes Best African Film 2022) before. I was expecting to win some, but it was a surprise to actually scoop all the nominations we submitted for.”
She said it was the “cherry on top” to see the excited reactions of the actors at the awards ceremony. Sithebe said it was the first time on a movie set for the main actor, Sibongokuhle Nkosi.
“The main actor, Sibongokuhle Nkosi, is straight out of university and this is her first film ever. To actually get such a big award is an amazing achievement for her, and for us as well to discover a new talent and put her on that pedestal because she was also nominated in Amsterdam for the same award, which is in September.”
She said the movie was about two girls in a rural setting.
“They are in a same-sex relationship, but the story is about coming of age and the expectation of a woman to marry a man.”
She said that in the movie, the main actress must choose between a husband chosen by her father, or her secret true love, a woman.
“It's an arranged marriage, but only to find out that the man she’s being arranged for is the brother of her lover.”
According to Sithebe, while same-sex relationships have been the subject of western movies in an urban setting, Valley of A Thousand Hills has a unique setting.
“Here we were tackling issues of tradition and patriarchy in terms of ‘woman, this is your place’, but in the modern world it still happens.
“We were also looking at how Africans approach same-sex relationships in terms of notions in Western culture that you need to be fixed by medication or whatever, but this film talks more about the traditional way. One of the actors is told to go for traditional healing because she’s possessed, so it is tackling all those themes in an African context on how we see same-sex relationships.”
However, she said more than anything else, it wa a love story.
“When I wrote it, for me it wasn't like I was writing a gay or lesbian story. I was writing a story that can be watched by anyone, and they can identify themselves in terms of not having a choice because of tradition, where you can't make the choice you want to make or choose to be with whomever you want to be with.”
Sithebe added that she was excited and looking forward to more wins at the South African Film and Television Awards in September, and the film festival in Amsterdam later this year.