Fanie Fourie’s Lobola, a contemporary romantic comedy about love and tradition in a rapidly evolving society, is a real treat for South African music fans with a soundtrack that features a number of popular and lesser known local artists.
“The 23 tracks represent many different genres of South African music,’ says producer and co-writer Janine Eser, who also selected the music for the film. “The selection process was exciting because the broad choice of tracks came to represent the collection of diverse characters in the story, which is about what happens when an Afrikaans guy and a Zulu girl fall in love. Choosing the right music was a vital part of the filmmaking process and the music almost became an additional character in the movie.’
Eser and Adam Schiff, the composer of the score for the film, spent many months listening and trying to find a combination of music tracks that would work in the scenes and with the characters. “We chose well-known artists such as Hip Hop Pantsula, Jack Parow, Freshlyground, Radio Kalahari Orkes, Lira, Mi Casa, Teargas, Bongo Maffin and fokofpolisiekar,’ says Eser. “But we also felt that a few underground tracks would be interesting, so we included artists like Mix n Blend, Richard the 3rd and P.H.Fat. There was an amazing range of spectacular South African music from which to choose.’
Well-known singer Chris Chameleon stars as Sarel Fourie, Fanie’s successful pop star brother. “Chameleon is not only a fantastic artist, but also a skilled comedic actor. As a singer himself, he understands the dynamics of Sarel’s character. His contribution to the film, and all the songs he wrote with Hunter Kennedy (Die Heuwels Fantasties/fokofpolisiekar) and Fred Den Hartog (Die Heuwels Fantasties), is truly brilliant. He not only took his role to heart, but his three “Sarel Fourie songs’ added another dimension to the soundtrack,’ adds Eser.
“Instead of a large orchestra or musical group, I used various types of South African instrumentation in an intimate and neatly intermingled manner,’ remarks Schiff. “Traditional Afrikaans instruments such as the banjo and concertina represent Fanie’s universe, while Dinky’s brings in drums, marimba and kalimba. The instruments don’t always sound natural as I treated them to give the score a more modern resonance.’
On the process of scoring a film, Schiff says it should be organic and echo the characters and tone of the film. The result is a score that feels as contemporary as the film.
Visit www.faniefouriemovie.com, watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHKxbP3lSjU&feature=youtu.be and go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkb2KdDUtz0&feature=youtu.be for behind-the-scenes moments.
