Film director in a class of his own

Unlike in television productions where the writer is in charge, the director of a movie is the commander and chief of a set. What he or she says goes, controlling everything from the look of the overall picture to the action contained within. In Hollywood directors are highly respected more, but locally directors are not fully recognised compared to the actor, they are just like gaffers.

This week The Herald Entertainment reporter Tafadzwa Zimoyo (TZ) caught up with renowned award-winning film director Joe Njagu (JN) who has continued to scale to greater heights.

Below are the excerpts from the interview:

TZ: Who is Joe Njagu in brief?

JN: I am a 32-year-old film director, married with one son called Seanille who is six years old. I have been in film-making for the past 10 years. I am a second born in a family of four. I love filming and that is my job for life. I have a media company with Rufaro Kaseke called The Decent. I have directed movies such as “Sores of Emmanuel”, “The Gentlemen”, “Lobola”, “Something Nice from London” and “Salon.Com”. My favourite movie of all time is “Troy” while locally I enjoyed “More Time”.

TZ: What makes you tick in the film industry and how do you describe it?

JN: I think I am unique in my own way. I have the urge to tell a story through visuals just like an author through books. I have managed to realise my dream as a filmmaker. I can’t say we have a film industry in Zimbabwe, but rather call it a film community. We are still growing and I think people need to invest in time not money. The reason why it is not moving much is we want to compare ourselves with Hollywood which is 103 years old. They have come a long way and we still got a long way to go.

TZ: What are some of the challenges that are hindering the success of the “community” in Zimbabwe?

JN: I don’t want to rush tothe financial aspect much but the greatest of them all is lack of support. The country is blessed with a lot of talented actors and directors but they are not fully respected. We don’t have laws governing our community. Imagine if you want to shoot a movie in First Street you go a long process, from police to council yet in some other countries there have laws on filmmaking.

TZ: What is your next project?

JN: I am working on a big-scale feature film called “Leaving Kachomba” with my friend and producer Rufaro Kaseke. It’s about a young blind boy who walks 500km to a city in search of doctors to restore his eyesight. I am also directing the ”Wedding Night” – the movie – produced by Daves Guzha.

TZ: Any achievements you want to share with the world?

JN: I am proud award winner as the Best Director Foreign Language Film which was held at the American International Film Festival 2012 for the movie “The Gentlemen”.

I don’t only do films but have a couple of videos that I had directed including Stunner and Tendai Manatsa’s latest production, “As Long Tichifema”, Audius Mtawarira’s “Saka Manje” and Selmor Mtukudzi’s “Nguva Yangu”.