About time we made Zollywood a reality

They specialise in areas where they have competitive advantage such as finance, manufacturing and information technology.
These economies grew on the basis of their export-driven focus. They produced goods and services for the rich industrialised countries.
The fact that their local markets were small did not deter the “Asian Tigers” to produce for the external markets.
In my last instalment I alluded to the fact that Nollywood grew on the back of huge domestic demand for their films.
The same can be said about Bollywood, Mzansi and Hollywood. Any film is as good as the number of people who watch it.
This therefore tells us that economies can grow on the basis of huge domestic demand.
However, the “Asian Tigers” success is anchored on huge external demand. Apart from agriculture, Zimbabwe could have a competitive advantage in film production.
Zimbabwe boasts a varied terrain, which comprises desert, thick forests, water falls, mountains, big water bodies, inland dams plus an educated population.
This explains why in 1980 the Government took a deliberate decision to make Zimbabwe a destination of Hollywood films and funded the production of films directly.
In tandem with the Government’s new philosophy, films such as “King Solomon’s Mines” (1985) and “Cry Freedom” were directly funded from Government coffers.
However, “Cry Freedom” was a big flop despite starring screen icons such as Denzel Washington.
It made a US$5,5 million loss. Direct funding for feature films stopped after that.
The Government’s funding only remained in respect of documentaries (through the Ministry of Information) which are less captivating and entertaining but informative.
Motivation for supporting our own film industry
Apart from just entertaining and educating, the film industry plays a pivotal role in achieving the following objectives:
Generation of foreign currency
The film industry is one avenue for the generating foreign currency for our country.
The production of films does not require imported raw material as is the case with most goods.
The only foreign content is the camera. The scriptwriters are locally available so are the educated actors.
Though our population of 12 million appears too small for a viable film industry compared to Nigeria and South Africa, the local market can be augmented by the export market. This option works as clearly demonstrated by the “Asian Tigers”.
Employment creation
This then implies that film production helps in creating employment for our own people.
The growth of the film industry assists in bringing up new talent as well as promoting the existing one.
In Nigeria Nollywood is a major contributor to employment creation. High employment contributes in reducing crime and crime rate.
Films can also play an advocacy role in reducing crime.
It is on record that during the time “Roots” was being screened, the crime rate fell by 50 percent in America.
Promoting our talented producers and musicians
Zimbabwe has torch-bearers in the mould of Godwin Mawuru, Stephen Chifunyise, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Oliver Mtukudzi. Some of them have made it to the big screen. Mawuru directed Neria and Studio 263.
Mtukudzi is a recipient of Kora awards and other international music awards.
Zimbabwe can use these torch-bearers in film production and then create mentorship programmes for up and coming producers and directors.
Promotion of Zimbabwean        culture
Films are agents of cultural imperialism in politics and business. We can use our films to promote Zimbabwean culture to other nations and also use them to preserve it.
In my opinion, the desire for good life, designer houses and designer cars among some of the Zimbabweans can be attributed to the influence of American films such as “Dallas” and “Dynasty”.
Films induce a pull culture. When one watches a film, it entertains you, makes you want to emulate your film heroes and this ultimately build demand for accessories, which the celebrities use or wear during the film.
Hollywood success has been closely linked to the success of a lot of American brands such as Nike, Wrangler, Dark & Lovely, Levis, basketball, GM Motors, Ford and many others.
Likewise local films can be a good avenue for selling our tourism industry. Our tourist arrivals can significantly increase if viewers see the Victoria Falls, Nyanga, Great Zimbabwe ruins, Zambezi Valley and Nyangani Mountains in an entertaining feature film.
Reducing social ills
As alluded to earlier on films can help in reducing criminal activities. Films are instrumental in creating awareness of other social ills such as HIV and Aids, cancer, cholera, child abuse, men and women abuse, corruption, violation of human rights and gender equity.
To meet this objective, donors funded the production of films such as “Neria”, “Flame” and “Everyone’s Child”.
The donor-funded films now dominate our feature film industry. They are very narrow in the focus such that they do not cover all facets of life and the producers have no say over the script.
These films though true tend to focus mostly on negatives of the society. These productions don’t give us a balanced view of our society.
The current donor-funded scripts though educative, don’t quite tell the full Zimbabwean story which will resonates with the Zimbabweans and the African audiences at large.
Critical success factors for the Zimbabwe film industry
The following factors have been identified as keys, which can be used to unlock potential in Zimbabwe’s film industry.
Training
Training is key in developing Zimbabwe’s film industry. A lot of Zimbabweans have passed through the Zimbabwe Film Training school, several schools of art and computers and the Zimbabwe Music College.
However, most of the graduates are roaming the streets because there are very few production houses to employ them.
The major raw material for production of films (i.e. people) are available but there are no entrepreneurs who can convert this raw material into a finished product.
Private sector investment in films
Private sector investment in the film industry is insignificant. On the other hand, Nollywood grew on the back of massive investment by the private sector in the industry.
Entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe are encouraged to start venturing into film production as there is a serious gap in the production of feature films as well as animated films.
Though many Zimbabweans have gone overseas to do degrees in animation, we have very few animated films by Zimbabweans.
Reinvention of the film market
Going to the cinema used to be the in-thing from the 1980s up to the early 2000s.
A combination of video clubs and satellite channels has contributed to fewer people visiting the cinemas.
However, cinemas are still a good networking place for teenagers and mature people.
There is need to aggressively market cinema so that our local productions can find a good market.
Our local cinemas need to reclaim their place as one of the major sources of entertainment in Zimbabwe
State-of-the-art equipment
Initially, Zimbabweans can start with low budget films without compromising basics of filmmaking.
Nollywood started that way and currently Nigerian producers are upgrading their filming to meet global standards and improve as they go along.
Most film production requires state-of-the-art equipment that produces a three-dimensional picture and good sound production.
Commercially driven film                  production
The tragedy of some of our economic activities such as farming and filmmaking is that they are taken as hobbies. 
The packaging of some of the films produced in Zimbabwe lacks creativity because the producers appear not to be under pressure to meet the ever-changing needs of their viewers.
There is need to create commercially driven production houses in Zimbabwe not donor-driven nor Government-driven production houses.
Financial repression
Industries which have potential for export growth can grow rapidly if the Government supports them with favourable interest rates.
The “Asian Tigers” grew rapidly partly due to their respective Government intervention in their financial markets. It is therefore my humble submission that the Government of Zimbabwe should formulate policies to assist the film industry production by arranging favourable interest rates with the local banking industry.
l The writer is a managing consultant at CLC Training International. E-mail [email protected].