BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE– A huge milestone for Eswatini’s country music!
Local Country Music duo Dusty & Stones has lifted the country’s flag high once again by winning this year’s Audience Award at the 2024 LOFT FILM FEST for their Country Music documentary.
The duo is made of Dusty born Gazi Simelane and Stones born Lindokuhle Msibi. When reached for comment, Dusty said, “This is our film’s 13th award. That’s so surreal. We never thought it would go this far. What’s amazing is that this film tells a story of how impossibility became a possibility—of childhood dreams achieved. It also proves the old adage: Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Dusty and Stones were ready when the opportunity came. So it’s exciting and still unbelievable.”
The documentary tells the story of two struggling Country Music singers from the tiny African Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, whom are unexpectedly invited to record their songs in Nashville, Tennessee, and compete in a Texas battle of the bands. The cousins journey to the heart of country music, determined to turn their careers around.
The duo sent out a huge thanks to their CICAE jury; Charlotte Kramer (Salzgeber & Co., Berlin, Germany), Frédéric Cornet (Cinema Galeries, Brussels, Belgium), and Peter Catalanotte from Film Tucson.
The Arthouse Cinema Award is the CICAE award given at major international festivals by an international jury of Arthouse cinema exhibitors and programmers, which aims at bringing high-quality films to the Arthouse cinemas.
The country Music duo also had the privilege to be interviewed by CNN at this year’s MTN Bushfire Festival after their performance. The duo is set to perform next in South Africa in KwaZulu Natal KZN at Eshowe,at the 8th Annual Ngodini Bunduz Games on November 29 to December 1, 2024.
