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New local film on the cards

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MUTARE-based award-winning filmmaker, Igi Matope of Pikicha Africa, is set to release a short film title Baba to be screened at Mutare National Arts Gallery later this month.

MUTARE-based award-winning filmmaker, Igi Matope of Pikicha Africa, is set to release a short film title Baba to be screened at Mutare National Arts Gallery later this month.

BY FARAI MATIASHE

A scene from Baba
A scene from Baba

Matope told NewsDay that the short film is centred on a well-educated, but unemployed man struggling with socio-economic challenges, but finds hope in his wife and echoes the lives of the youth in the country.

“The film brings to light the hardships we face every day in Zimbabwe, such as corruption in the workplace and changing gender roles in family set ups among others,” he said.

“It is at its best an authentic and realistic mirror image of modern-day life in this country.”

Matope said the idea of the title of the film came from The Joys of the Motherhood, a 1979 novel by the late Nigerian author, Buchi Emecheta.

“The title Baba is about the joys of fatherhood and draws inspiration from The Joys of the Motherhood, a Nigerian novel. It is artistic and ironic, but for one to get an understanding of the appropriateness of the film’s title one needs to watch it,” he said.

A winner of the first prize in the Hi 5 Film Competition the 2015 Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF), Matope said Baba has a local setting and cast made up of well-known actors.

“The film was shot in Sakubva, Dangamvura and Mutare central business district. The cast and crew are entirely those born and bred in Mutare. The cast did an exceptional job. The level of acting in this film is entirely mind blowing, genuine and truly organic. The film stars Clarence Borerwe as Timothy Taruza, the main character and I was impressed by his role. Clarence is a film and theatre graduate from the University of Zimbabwe and he has experience in acting, as he has acted in Hotche Koche projects and Mbasa Mbasa, a short film,’’ Matope said.

He said Trish Samupindi and Itayi Karipire play supporting roles, while the film also features first-time actors like Tapiwa Mahwa and five-year-old Leo Mangueka.

Matope is credited for films like Fatima and Cassanova.