By Panashe David Babi
The Zimbabwean Movie industry has without doubt brought us good, memorable films that graced our screens since independence.
From ‘Neria’, ‘Studio 263’, ‘Amakorokoza’ and ‘Gringo’ amongst other legendary motion pictures, the industry was poised for a massive transformation which came only in a downward spiral.
The movie industry has evolved with time, from government funded movie projects meant for propaganda in the Nazi era to the privately funded movie projects in Hollywood and other movie industries.
One may ask why it is imperative for local movies in areas like the Midlands Province to be well funded, firstly the production of movies has for a long time moved from other obligations such as pushing the national and cultural narratives to business oriented production.
Nowadays movies are made primarily to make money before any other reason, and for that reason there is an emergence of serious cut-throat competition among players for a global audience.
Let us start regionally shall we, players in Southern African countries fight for a regional audience, at the same time other African countries will be fighting for that same audience as well as global players.
It is not entirely about who has the larger pocket when it comes to getting the majority of audiences.
Money does indeed buy the larger audience as it means attracting better actors, using better equipment thus producing quality films.
However some things go with culture and there are just some things Hollywood, Bollywood or Nollywood cannot do for the Zimbabwean audience thus the need of serious capital in local production.
While many people think that capital is needed mainly in production purposes, there is also need to inject a considerable amount of money in the distribution chain.
If we are to be honest with each other, the production chain is nothing without a viable distribution chain.
A very unfortunate example of a great local production is the ‘Sabhuku Vharazipi’ movie, a disaster that resulted from the lack of a properly functioning distribution chain.
Sabhuku Vharazipi is by far the most known local film amongst the common citizen that graced the screens in the last decade.
Despite its popularity, the movie remains unknown and very little in financial terms.
While most people argue that piracy in Zimbabwe remains the hugest obstacle in the progression of the film industry there is need to look for a realistic distribution chain that cannot be affected by piracy.
One of the reality in Zimbabwe right now is that as a result of the global economic recession, many people are not in a position to consume media products such as film in the official market.
These markets remain movie theatres which are few, around cities; towns and growth points of Zimbabwe through piracy thousands of DVDs were sold from the first ‘Vharazipi’ instalment illegally from a price range of USD$0.50 to USD$2.
Piracy is a headache to local film producers however it remains as a source of livelihood to hundreds in the towns and cities of the Midlands Province and Zimbabwe due to the devastating unemployment levels amongst youth and a global recession that affects the working class.
“I finished my Ordinary Level well, what made me sell pirated DVDs and pirated movies is failing to find a stable paying job of course’ said a Gweru movie vendor who chose to remain anonymous fearing prosecution.
As the saying goes: necessity is the mother of invention, piracy caused the producers of movies to move town by town, city by city promoting and selling the film using the lead actors as they drew crowds and crowds of people.
“Who doesn’t know Sabhuku Vharazipi, he used to come here with his team to promote their films in the CBD, attracting hundreds” said Tapiwa Ncube a Zvishavane resident.
Such an initiative is not unique in the film industry as Hollywood similarly does the same hosting even bigger movie promotions.
This then brings us to our question: what can be done?
Larger movie industries have unique, solid and effective distribution chains, Nollywood and Bollywood have similar chains of distribution while Hollywood has a diverse strategy.
From Horizontal integration systems used by companies like Disney, Viacom and Fox to independent distribution companies such as Netflix, Hollywood seems to be on top of the game.
In Zimbabwe however, it is a different story as we are far from managing to bring up half of the capital used to set up institutions in Hollywood.
For the Zvishavane cinematic community, what gives them hope is sponsorship from non-governmental organisation and the corporate world.
In Zvishavane most of cinema was done not through DVDs but live performances from different groups sponsored formerly by Shabanie Mine.
Armageddon for these groups came with the closure of the mine in the opening years of the new millennium.
Most entertainment groups once funds were cut off immediately diverted to other opportunities outside Zvishavane or immediately stopped their trade.
“When Shabanie Mine was still open, we were sponsored and well taken care of, our drama club split a few years after the mine’s closure one has to understand that drama for the actors was a career”
“Like any career when the money stops coming in one has to look for something else, that was the same case with what caused us to reduce production of films,” said a long time Zvishavane actress.
Zvishavane, a mining town which was blessed with actors and actresses like Murombenji Kalamende who pushed most of her professional career under the Zvishavane Action Arts Group which is now partially sponsored by Mimosa mine has seen the highs and lows of film production in Zvishavane.
In 2022, the Director Gideon Chuma bemoaned the unavailability and unwillingness of most corporates to sponsor their initiative thus reducing potential of better success.
Zvishavane Action Arts and Culture received an award in 2000 after performing at a United Nations peace dance-drama competition in Gweru.
What most of these talented professionals need is not only sponsorship that comes under donor funding but also a system that enables them to earn through their art.
Piracy is a great threat to digital production of community dramas thus the need to construct modern cinemas that will see locals generating money through gate takings.
The concept of cinemas is ideal in the Midlands Province as there is an audience hungry for cinema and entertainment as well as the fact that the mining province as potentially audiences who can afford cinema.
With time, finances and a well-structured system, the Midlands Province will emerge as a cinematic giant in Zimbabwe.