THE recently premiered local thriller, Mind Games has been endorsed on the local showbiz scene by both film enthusiasts and top filmmakers as a great production.
BY LIFE & STYLE REPORTER
Mind Games is a locally produced psychological thriller that unravels the complexities of human thought and emotion, as Ex played by Kevin Hanssen is a genius psychopath, who takes Sam, played by Dax Jackson, through a series of tests that inadvertently force the latter to revisit his dark secrets and resolve his personal demons.
Director and producer of the film, Charles Mawungwa said it was shot on a minimal budget of about $375 for two weeks and editing took five months.
“Our main concern was the actors’ remuneration and we ended up giving the main actors $100 a day and the supporting cast got $50 a day and we added an extra $20 a day for transport during rehearsals and filming, though they deserved more for their amazing contribution, we at least wanted to give them something to motivate them,” he said.
“I intentionally shot the film on the 5D Mark 2 with a 50mm lens. Something that every other filmmaker can get.
“I did not use any filming lights, but shot using natural light.”
The film’s premiere at Ster-Kinekor Eastgate last week was attended by an array of film fanatics and local filmmakers among them Joe Njagu, Nakai Matema, Shem Zemura and Eddie Ndhlovu.
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Zemura said: “I would like to congratulate Charles Mawungwa on a successful premiere and a very strong film, you are such an inspiration Former Big Brother Africa star, actor and producer, Munya Chidzonga said the film is a solid piece of work.
“Well done to Charles Mawungwa and the Reelnet Media team. The film is a solid piece of work. You achieved what you set out to achieve,” he said.
Local film enthusiasts, Tinashe Mtumazhi said the film is inspirational.
“You have broken new ground already, how about taking it further around the country and introduce the rest of Zimbabwe to good Zimbabwean film,” he said.
Another movie goer, Lenon Emmanuel said: “The film is a masterpiece Charles, well-done my brother. Your actors and actresses were on point … great directing, the film kept me on the edge of the seat.”
Mind Games has to date won accolades for the Best Narrative Feature Award at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, and it has also made it to Five Continents International Film Festival, where it won best editing feature award.
Locally, the film was shown at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival 2017, where it won the best actor and best Zimbabwean feature film awards.
