ED challenges creatives to tell ‘our own story’

By The Standard and Newsday | Dec. 7, 2021 | 3 Min read

Mnangagwa urged the creative sector and young people, in particular, not to use their skills and talents to promote national decadence and self-hate.

BY SHARON SIBINDI PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has challenged creatives to be patriotic in their line of business.

He said this while officiating at the launch of Varsity Film Expo at National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo yesterday.

Mnangagwa urged the creative sector and young people, in particular, not to use their skills and talents to promote national decadence and self-hate.

“You only have one mother country, which is Zimbabwe. Love it, print it and protect it.

“In recognition of the various imperatives of the fourth industrial revolution and our quest to develop a knowledge economy, my administration made the deliberate decision to include film, animation, cinematography, content production, drone technology, graphic design, sound engineering and creative arts in general, as critical skills for the future,” he said.

“I, thus, commend the partnership between the Higher Education ministry, universities and the Film and TV Resources Company for prioritising training of players in the creative cultural industry.”

Mnangagwa said the creative industry should help creatives to convey the true story of “our great motherland by projecting a positive national image”.

“I, thus, challenge stakeholders in the sector to use their various fortes to promote our rich heritage and vision for the future, by telling our own story, in our own perspective, with our own voices and images,” he said.

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“Going forward, this Varsity Film Expo must be critical in the ongoing nation building and branding exercise.

“It must stimulate the creation and distribution of “proud Zimbabwean” film and broadcast content, while enhancing our country’s present diplomatic focus of being “a friend to all and an enemy to none”.

He added: “You in the sector are called upon to promote Zimbabwean film globally, and to introduce foreign audiences to Zimbabwean culture so that they develop a better understanding of us as a people.”

Mnangagwa said the film expo and teacher upskilling programmes along with the ongoing capacity-building initiatives being implemented in universities and colleges must give impetus to the creation and consumption of local arts, cultural, sport and recreation products and services.

“The expression by the India-Africa Trade Council to set up the Indo-Zimbabwe Film Commission to facilitate skills and cultural exchange for the growth of the film and movie industry is commendable,” he said.

“The Foreign Affairs and International Trade ministry, among other stakeholders, must play a part towards unlocking the opportunities the commission has to offer. I invite the private sector to invest and support “proudly Zimbabwean” film and audio-visual, music, theatre and the visual arts industries.”

He added: “Similarly, the newly licensed players in the broadcasting space are urged to promote locally-produced content. This is more important as our young people remain the biggest drivers of digital content and users of information and communication technologies.”

Mnangagwa said the state of local films and movies should motivate people to be productive.

“At this stage of our country’s development epoch, film and movies should be deployed to motivate our people to be able to do more, through increased production and productivity,” he said.

He added that government would continue to resource the arts and culture development fund to support emerging young filmmakers and other artists across the creative cultural industries.

“As recently announced in the 2022 national budget, my government will continue to resource the arts and culture development fund, to support the emerging young talented filmmakers and other artists across the creative cultural industries,” he said.

The film expo, courtesy of Film and TV Resources led by Kwanele Hlabangana and Kudzai Chikomo in conjunction with the Higher and Tertiary Education ministry, is running under the theme Vivid: Amplyifying SDGs through Film and Digital Media.