Sundaymail Editor
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
Audiences across the world enjoyed the 2016 American movie “The Magnificent Seven”, which was a remake of a film of the same title from 1960 – itself a reimagination of the 1954 Japanese epic titled “Seven Samurai”.
Zimbabwe has its own “magnificent seven”, only that this movie is based on fact and draws from an integral part of the country’s rich history.
It has taken three years of scratching and clawing to make, but finally “Chinhoyi 7” is set for release in August.
Writer and director Moses Matanda said last week that his team was putting final touches to the liberation struggle-inspired project.
“Shooting of the movie is done. We are now doing automated dialogue replacement, special effects and colour grading,” said Matanda.
The 110-minute long movie was shot in Harare, Domboshawa, Honde Valley, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.
Matanda said, “Great movies take years to make. It took us three years to make this one because we lacked the financial muscle to fund the production. The other challenge we faced was that of gathering information. We linked up with some war veterans but very few were willing to come forth and tell their stories.
“However, after much pressing we finally got a breakthrough. Overall we managed to get the job done due to support from various stakeholders that include Honde Valley TV, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services.”
Matanda said Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to France, Florence Chideya, and movie producer Tawanda Sarireni were also instrumental in bringing the film to life.
The movie features some popular faces, among them Eddie Sandifolo, Albert Nyathi and Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave.
“Eddie is the commander of the seven. I think this is one of his best performances ever. He has the power of understanding the depth of emotions in film. To me he is an international star and not just a local icon.
“He knows how to use his props especially body props like his eyes. Albert Nyathi acted as Joshua Nkomo. He showcases the power of poetry as he persuades a prisoner to go to war. Musician Fungisai also acted her heart out in this movie,” enthused Matanda.
He said the majority of actors were from the uniformed services.
“I trained most of the actors recruited from the security forces for a month before shooting. The selection was based on characters needed for the movie: the bad, the good and the ugly – we had them all.
“Some actors came from Canada and the UK. Cynthia Stone, Gregory Brown and Cameron Murton are from Canada and Julian Shaw and Anneka Onnor are from UK,” he disclosed.
“Chinhoyi 7” will hit the big screen on the Defence Forces and Heroes holiday.
“Chinhoyi 7 clearly outlines the roles which our nationalists like President Robert Mugabe, Edgar Tekere and the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo played whilst they were incarcerated and how they persuaded prisoners to join the war.
“The movie has a dark mood but we spiced with humour so that it dilutes hatred for whites – it also tells how land was taken from the black majority in a gruesome manner. It’s very emotional and will make the audience cry hence the need to throw in humor to calm down people’s tempers,” said Matanda.
Matanda said he was already working on new productions.
“We are currently working on two feature films, namely ‘Eagles in This Hut’ and ‘Operation Crocodile’. The former is basically about child abuse, where we have a father sexually abusing his daughter; while the latter is an anti-stock theft campaign programme in motion picture, to educate through entertainment,” he said.
Online Reporter