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THE death of renowned and talented actors and actress in the country has left huge voids in the film sector and has left it haemorrhaging, Zimbabwe International Film and Festival Trust director, Nigel Munyati has said. Munyati, in a hearty interview following the recent untimely death of veteran actor, Fidelis Chirimuuta Cheza, who featured on dramas Mukadota as Chikwama and in Studio 263 as Danger, said it was sad that nothing much was being done to replace actors and actress who passed on and went away with their talents.
Cheza’s death came hardly a year after iconic actress, Pretty Xaba, who popularly known as Mai Muvengwa in Studio 263 succumbed to cancer at 49.
“The sad loss of Cheza was not just on a personal loss but a huge loss to the entertainment industry. The film industry was robbed of a veteran actor and the void he left will never be replaced. But my worry is what are we doing to replace these talents? There is need for concerted efforts to discover and develop art. New talents should nurtured and tapped enable to have a viable film industry,” said Munyati.
Munyati described Cheza as a veteran and warrior.
“Bla Fi’ started his lifelong career in entertainment in the 70s as a disc jockey. Safirio “Mukadota” Madzikatire was impressed by his talent while he was working at the Le Coq D’or Nightclub in 1983, and persuaded him to join the “Mukadota Family” TV sitcom playing the part of “Chikwama”. He then went on to act in most of Zimbabwe’s major film and television productions from the 80s, till his death on October 25, a week before his 67th birthday,” he said.
In his 32-year film and television career, Cheza was in at least 34 productions.
Major films included, “King Solomon’s Mines (1985)”, “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold” (1986), “Cry Freedom” (1987), “The Lost World” (1992), “Return to the Lost World” (1993), Bopha! (1993), “A Far Off Place” (1993), “Kini & Adams” (1997), and Thinking About Africa (1998). In all these productions, ‘Bla Fi’ would have rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s best actors and production like Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, Kevin Kline, Denzel Washington, Donald Sutherland, James Earl Jones, Reese Witherspoon, Danny Glover, Malcolm McDowell, Alfre Woodard, Henry Silva, Herbert Lom, Maximilian Schell, Robert John Burke, Ethan Embry, Jack Thompson, John Rhys-Davies, David Warner, and Eric McCormack.
Local productions included “Jit” (1992) “Ndakaitei”, “Neria” (1993), “Everyone’s Child” (1996). On TV he was “Chikwama” in the sitcom “Mukadota Family”; and “Danger” in “Studio 263”, Zimbabwe’s first Soap Opera. Most recently, he was “The Collector” in the ZIFFT Short Film Project production by the same name, and was currently part of the cast of “Makunu’unu Maodzamwoyo” with Jesesi Mungoshi.
“Although he was much older, we were very close, and I always had time for my big brother. This is a very painful loss of a great warrior, one so true to the game that it hurts,” said Munyati.
Cheza was found dead in his bedroom at his Highfield house last week.
He was 67.
Online Reporter