BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO
TOP filmmaker Melgin Tafirenyika yesterday said he was excited that his film — 5th Anniversary — was selected for screening at the fifth edition of the We Are Africa Film Festival which opened on Friday last week in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
The festival, which will screen an array of productions from across the continent, will bring down its curtains on June 6.
The Zimbabwean production will be among several African films to be screened during the fiesta as part of celebrating Africa Month.
Tafirenyika, who is leaving for the festival today, described the selection as an honour.
“It is a great pleasure that one of our latest film 5th Anniversary was chosen to represent Zimbabwe at the film festival in South Africa. As the director of the film, I was invited to this special event to witness its screening on Friday. I will leave on Thursday (today) for the event,” he said.
“It’s quite a great honour I appreciate that very much. It shows that I am in the right direction. Like I always say, my team and I will keep pushing for recognition.”
Tafirenyika said the film’s objective was to highlight the extensive damage words could cause in a marriage.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“Further to that, it also highlights the challenges of trust in young couples’ marriages as anything out of line is treated with pointed fingers,” he said.
The film fiesta is an annual event that takes place in South Africa for purposes of celebrating African films.
The films lined up for screening reflect on various social issues, among them people’s freedoms, HIV and Aids, civil wars, comedy, genocides, love and leadership. They include the award-winning Western blockbuster Five Fingers for Marseille and smash hit, Baby Mamas featuring Thembisa Mdoda, Dineo Ranaka and Salamina Mosese.
The award-winning thespian and actor last year landed a role as a Congolese police officer in a British television series, The Widow, which was shot in Cape Town by South Africa’s Film Africa Productions.
Tafirenyika said he had hit a purple patch in his career after winning the Best Entertainer Award at the Zim Excellence Awards in Cape Town last year, including selling a number of his films to DStv’s Zambezi Magic.
The film director said he was awed when South Africa’s leading feature film and television casting director informed him that he had clinched the new role.
