Filmmaker with a disability, defies the odds

Patrick Chitumba

A GWERU-BASED filmmaker with a disability, Mr Kudakwashe Doba (38) is defying the odds.

Mr Doba who cannot use both his hands and his feet, is using a special pointer attached to a hat to type and edit scripts on his laptop.

Presently, he is producing and directing Komboni Secrets, a television soapie that is being aired on ZBCtv on Saturdays at 10pm.

For Mr Doba, giving up is not an option.

With Komboni Secrets already on TV, Mr Doba has started working on a drama called Svinurai, which is a story of a blind girl who finds out how hostile the world is towards persons with disabilities when her mother dies. She is then raped by her stepbrother.

Soon after birth, Mr Doba had to spend six weeks in an incubator at Gweru Provincial Hospital due to breathing complications and this ultimately led to him developing a condition called cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture.

“I was born in 1985 under difficult circumstances, and I am told that I was not breathing and therefore, I was immediately put in an incubator. For six weeks, my parents and family couldn’t do anything except praying for a miracle to happen,” he said.

“The miracle took place and my parents named me Kudakwashe meaning God’s will because they believed this was divine intervention. It was everyone’s belief that God wanted to prove something in my life.”

Mr Doba said a lack of body co-ordination resulted in him losing control of his legs and hands.

“I cannot walk, use my hands, and have slurred speech. I went to King George VI Memorial School for my rehabilitation and school from primary to secondary level. It is at this institution that I learnt about this technique of using a head pointer, which is strapped around my head. I use it to strike computer keys,” he said.

Mr Doba said as a child, he had nothing to do during school holidays, and while other children played outdoor games, he spent the better part of the day in front of a television set and watching films.

“After school, I submitted a concept to a certain channel which approved it but, sang a different tune upon learning of my disability. However, the producer of the Small House Saga, a popular soap from the mid-2000s took me under her wings and made me one of the scriptwriters,” he said.

“This is how I started mingling with various film editors, directors and producers who taught me the ropes,” said Mr Doba.

After his five-year stay at the Small House Saga, he returned to Gweru and started his own film company called Doc Entertainment.

He is now using the knowledge acquired to write scripts and edit films using the stick strapped round his head.

“To date, I have done several short films and music videos for Prudence Mabhena. At the moment, I am directing and producing a soap opera on ZBCtv entitled, Komboni Secrets which airs on Saturdays at 10pm,” said Mr Doba.

“Just like any other television series, lack of funding and proper equipment is threatening to derail the film whose first episode can be viewed on YouTube. Komboni Secrets brings out issues that affect everyday people including drug abuse.”

Mr Doba said he received an award on February 21 from President Mnangagwa for using the arts to impact communities.

“This excited the sole sponsor of my artworks, a woman who has dedicated her salary to buying equipment and sponsoring food and transport for my work to continue. The light at the end of the long tunnel is getting clear.”

Mr Doba lost his mother, Ms Martha Ndlovu on April 25 after she succumbed to cancer.

“My mother was a civil servant and was staying in a Government house at Guinea Fowl compound. Now that the mother is dead, no one knows how long I will continue to stay at the house and I have no alternative accommodation,” he said.

Mr Doba offers training to local youth at the compound.

“This is one of the few jobs my disability allows me to do with no funding, sponsorship, or advertisers. Fortunately, I have a dedicated cast and crew who continue to soldier on hoping that one day a miracle will happen,” he said.

“Nothing seems to stop this crew, but my disability makes it difficult for me to move from one filming location to other.”

The crew and cast of Komboni Secrets, he said, combine their strength and sweat in pulling and pushing his malfunctioning wheelchair.

Mr Doba said he is in urgent need of a specialised wheelchair.

“This wheelchair must be able to tilt to different angles so that it matches what I will be doing at a particular time. For example, when using the computer — the wheelchair must be tilted to a certain angle and when using the toilet, the angle must also change,” he said.

“This problem presents travelling challenges for me as most public transport vehicles have no space for my huge wheelchair. For these reasons, some shoots have to be postponed or cancelled.”

Mr Doba said despite being physically challenged and wheelchair-bound, he has no challenge in terms of directing physically abled actors.

“I might not be able to do manual labour, but by using my scripting and directing skills, I can create employment for others. I have a speech problem but I have a way to communicate to millions through writing emotional scripts,” he said. — @pchitumba1