Online Reporter
Bruce Ndlovu Sunday Life Reporter
FOR Lenni Mdawini Sibanda, Highlanders Football Club has never simply been a football club.
It is woven into the fabric of his childhood, his memories and his identity as a boy from Bulawayo. So when the award-winning filmmaker finally got the opportunity, some 15 years after first entertaining the idea, to make a film centred on his beloved Bosso, it should have been nothing but a moment of celebration.
Instead, the journey to the screen has been accompanied by grief. Some of the Highlanders executives who initially listened to Sibanda’s pitch, embraced the idea and gave the project their blessing have since passed away. The clubs has also lost a lot of fans to accidents around the country before, during and after matches.
Their deaths have changed the emotional texture of the production. What began as a long-held artistic dream has become, in part, an act of remembrance.
The result is Born into the Black and White: A Bosso Movie, a fictional feature film being produced by Bulawayo-based Junza Studios in partnership with Highlanders Football Club.
For Sibanda, who grew up supporting the club, the film is both a professional milestone and a deeply personal undertaking.
“I have always wanted to create a film production for my favourite, for my boyhood club, basically Highlanders Football Club,” he told Sunday Life.
The idea had been quietly occupying his mind for about 15 years, waiting for the filmmaker to acquire the experience, confidence and industry standing to turn it into reality.
The spark came after Sibanda encountered Call, a fictional film made around 2005/2006 that involved English football club Newcastle United. Watching another club become part of a fictional cinematic story made him wonder why a similar idea could not work in Bulawayo.
“I was like, this is possible with us,” he recalled.
Years later, with his filmmaking career having matured, Sibanda felt he could finally have the conversation he had imagined for so long and approached Highlanders. The club’s then executive welcomed the concept, and discussions began.
However, before the project could fully take shape, some of those who had helped give it life were gone. Highlanders Football Club Chairman Retired Colonel Kenneth Mhlophe died in a road traffic accident in July alongside vice-chairman Fiso Siziba and treasurer Nkani Khoza.
“I was fortunate enough to be able to meet the executive. Unfortunately, they ended up passing on. But they were very happy with the idea and the idea is still ongoing. So we ended up getting it signed and moving forward even after they passed on. So this is an emotional project for us, for me as a Highlanders fan. I think for most fans now, this is a production that we’re going to dedicate to the people that we’ve lost, particularly this year. People that were really for the club and pushing the club forward. So that’s the idea that we had and we’re pushing. It’s a fictional film and
Highlanders is a producer,” he said.
With the agreement was eventually signed and the production moving forward, even as those early champions of the concept were no longer around to see it, Sibanda has been left with mixed emotions. That bitter-sweetness gives Born into the Black and White an unusual emotional foundation. It is a film born from fandom but shaped by memory, even though Sibanda is determined that grief should not make the project a memorial in the conventional sense. The movie is fictional, and Highlanders itself is not merely providing its name or historical backdrop.
“We’re using Highlanders assets, facilities. We’re also working with them in terms of outreach to companies and corporates that are interested. And we’re very much open with Highlanders to have corporates coming on board.
“Because at the end of the day, this is a film that will push us as a city and also push us as a country. Because from what I know, from what I gather, this is the first ever production that has been included by a club. And the club is co-producing,” he said.
Sibanda said he did not want Highlanders to be a passive subject of the film. He said he wanted Bosso to be an active participant in telling its own story through a medium that could reach audiences beyond the football terraces. This is also why the production team chose fiction instead of a documentary.
“Film is not just limited to actual football fans. Even non-football fans will get exposed to the brand and the culture and the legacy that Highlanders carries,” he said.
Sibanda said the film was intended to become a cultural calling card for both Highlanders and Bulawayo. He said was a chance to take the Bosso story beyond the stadium and into cinemas, living rooms and potentially international markets.
“Even non-football fans will get exposed to the brand and the culture and the legacy that Highlanders carries. That’s one thing that the club and I agreed on. Whatever we do with this film, it is to push the club forward. And to elevate it and to cross borders. Film is not limited, feature scripted film is not limited as compared to documentaries. That’s the reason why we ended up not doing a documentary.
“Because documentaries are for actual fans or people who have an interest in history and stuff like that. But with films, almost everyone is a film fan or almost everyone has watched a film. I believe everyone has watched a film, basically. So Highlanders has a chance to tap into that market. And also for us to grow as a studio, this is a big opportunity for us, which we truly appreciate.
And we are open to corporates coming on board,” he said.
Sibanda said fans could potentially contribute financially, provide resources or even make appearances.
“So we hope that fans should understand that this is also their own film. So we are open to them participating, either putting in the money or putting in their own appearances or putting in resources. This is a business card that’s going to sell the city and sell the club and sell us as a talented cultural centre for this country. And also for the country. We are telling our football story in a very different medium,” he said.
Sibanda said the film would premiere, without fail, in December.
“We understand the value of time and we don’t want this to be one of those projects that go on for 10, 15 years. We’re not happy with how other filmmakers are handling their projects. They use it as a cash generating or an income stream where they keep on begging and asking for money from different entities without having the actual product. So this is a commercial production. It’s been set. We’re premiering in December. Came rain or thunder.”
