Creative Cont in comeback

Hollywood in Lupane!

This is the vision that has enticed veteran playwright and filmmaker, Cont Mhlanga to come back into the fold and continue nurturing some of the countryaï¿½ï¿½s untapped talent.

A few months ago the arts doyen announced that he was ending his long marriage with the arts, as he retreated to his Lupane home to look after his livestock and lead a peaceful rural life away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Mhlangaaï¿½ï¿½s exit seemed inopportune for the countryaï¿½ï¿½s arts scene as it came on the eve of the digitisation of the countryaï¿½ï¿½s airwaves. With content already scarce from local filmmakers, the exit of one of the countryaï¿½ï¿½s most experienced practitioners seemed a blow to efforts revive the countryaï¿½ï¿½s floundering film scene.

However, the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr Chris Mushohweaï¿½ï¿½s courtesy call on the arts guruaï¿½ï¿½s rural home in Lupane where he emphasised that Government still needed Mhlangaaï¿½ï¿½s expertise for content creation seemed to have convinced him to change his stance.

aï¿½?When the Minister and his delegation came I told them that they should not talk to me like I was a layman. I told them that they could only engage me about digitisation if all they could offer were promises. I told them if this process is real then they should show me the channels on my screen because I also have a TV at home.

aï¿½?A week later one of their engineers came and we switched on my TV and I can confirm now that Lupane is receiving digital signal. The only problem is that the 12 channels are blank because there is no content. That is where the likes of me come in,aï¿½? he said.

Mhlanga said after seeing that the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) was serious, he had decided to accept their offer and step back into the fold. Mhlanga is now in charge of the training of filmmakers in Matabeleland North.

aï¿½?When I saw that even people in Lupane can receive DSTV quality signal in their homes I thought it was worth it for me to give them some of my time and help train young content producers. I let out my goats at two in the afternoon so I can use the earlier part of my day to work with filmmakers,aï¿½? he said.

Mhlanga has 57 young practitioners under his tutelage, having finished with the first three weeks of his 20-week training programme.

aï¿½?The talent was always there but we did not have the equipment. That was our complaint to BAZ and fortunately they came through with the resources needed.

aï¿½?Villagers and kids in Lupane now know how to work the camera better than people in Bulawayo. People I used to work with at Amakhosi are coming to Lupane and getting embarrassed by children in Lupane and that is what we always wanted. Hollywood is on its way to Lupane,aï¿½? he said.

Mhlanga said although he was happy about the enthusiasm brought about by digitisation, he was dismayed by the lack of project diversity among the countryaï¿½ï¿½s young filmmakers.

aï¿½?Everywhere around the country content producers are all making dramas. A station canaï¿½ï¿½t be all about drama. What they donaï¿½ï¿½t realise is that dramas will maybe make up six hours of a stationaï¿½ï¿½s programming. They should be making more documentaries and other infomercials because that is what makes up a large chunk of programming on TV,aï¿½? he said.