The Zimbabwe International Film Festival {ZIFF] has urged Zimbabwean film producers to focus on their Zimbabwean culture in film productions.
The sentiments came after a lot of Zimbabwean film producers are now focusing on western narratives in their films whilst segregating their own culture.
This year’s 21st ZIFF festival will run from the 8 to 11 of December, the event is going to be screened online whilst musicians and film makers will grace the occasion to discuss how ZIFF can reshape the Zimbabwean narrative.
Speaking during a press conference in Harare yesterday, ZIFF Executive Director Mr Nigel Munyati implored that Zimbabwean film producers must focus on their culture in film productions rather than supporting the western narrative.
“From the day the whites came in they have been feeding us with their narrative and now our own religion is gone but the Gods word existed before the white came so these are some of the things that we have to change in our film production and ensure that the youths understand where we came from,” he said.
He also said that the Zimbabwean film industry was lacking funding from both the government and the private sector for them to produce good stories.
“The problem is funding, we can have a lot of ideas in our production but if we don’t have funding we will be going nowhere. We are not getting support and the private sector is not supporting us enough, government is not supporting us enough so we should be funding our own stories we hope that government will here our call,” added Munyati.
Meanwhile, Nico Abote Co Founder and Executive Producer of Play Africa said It is important to merge with ZIFF because it help them to create their local content and avoid relying on western information.
He challenged the young people to be proud of their history so that when their fathers die they will still have their legacy.
“As Play Africa TV we are there to create a platform to ensure that anyone have a free choice to watch what he wants and we also want to supports our African content creators so that they are also able to benefit, he said.
The event was graced by various content creators organizations which includes Telco, Dstv Multichoice and Play Africa.
Nevertheless, ZIFF plays a role of bringing Africans together through the portrayal of their similar histories, heritage and varying degrees.
It is a society that enjoys and celebrates a dynamic film culture and intend to achieve this through dedication to the discovery and development of filmmakers, artists and audiences.
