The Ring is a South African short film about a pregnant young woman who runs away from an abusive relationship and through a series of misunderstandings gets mistaken for the fiance of a dead man.
It is loosely based on the feature films Mrs Winterbourne and While You Were Sleeping.
The Ring aired on SABC1 on 25 December 2008, at 21h30. It is 30 minutes long.
Synopsis
The Ring follows the journey of Tumi from the slums of Hillbrow to a life of opulence and grandeur through a series of unexpected events.
A pregnant Tumi is cast out of her home by her abusive live-in, criminal boyfriend (Stivovo) and manages to slip onto a luxury train in the hopes of pinching lunch.
She becomes an unwitting stowaway, but is taken in by a generous couple who eloped in Cape Town and are now en-route to introduce the wife (Pinkie) to her mother-in-law.
They befriend Tumi and pay for her trip. However, the train is derailed and the loving couple killed. The dea man's parents - the Motsatses - mistake Tumi for Pinkie, the latest addition to their family.
Tumi is suddenly faced with the dilemma of whether to clear the air by informing the Motsatses that she’s not Pinkie - and return to her unstable life of squalor and violence (not the best place to raise her child) - or continue the charade and lead a life without any wants.
It seems an obvious choice, except tradition gets in the way. Tumi learns that, by the Motsatse's own traditions, she's to be married to a surviving brother.
The Ring stars Salaminah Mphelo (Crazy Games) as Tumi; Tshepo Maseko (Isidingo) as Tshepo, who has a twin called Thabo; and Lillian Dube (Soul City) as Mme Motsatse.