Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, [email protected]
AUDITIONS for the upcoming Zimbabwean film featuring Tongayi Chirisa have closed with producers now finalising the selection for the lead role.
Auditions for the film which is set to be shot in Victoria Falls and Harare this year, were held in Victoria Falls, Hwange and Binga over the past two weeks with producers saying they were overwhelmed by the numbers of prospective actors.
The decision to confine auditions to Hwange and Binga districts, the film’s directors said was to identify untapped talent and decentralise the film sector outside Harare and Bulawayo.
The film is based on the life of Tobias Mupfuti, an incredible individual who owns the Victoria Falls Boxing Academy.
He seeks to tell his story of hope and joy with the aim of telling the Zimbabwean story.
Tobias Mupfuti will be played by Chirisa who at every scene will be accompanied by a boy, aged between five and 13 in the lead role.
The film’s crew comprising Joe Njagu and Jessie Rowlands with help from acting coach Eddie Sandifolo and Mupfuti, conducted the auditions.
Rowlands said the response was overwhelming with scores of pupils from different schools seeking to be considered. Andrea the Vocalist was one of those that were auditioned.
“We saw hundreds of children from across Matabeleland North turning up. We started with auditions in Victoria Falls and had children from Chinotimba Primary and Mosi-oa-Tunya High School and then we went to Hwange where we held auditions for children from six different schools.
“We were overwhelmed by the turnout and very impressed by the talent. Finally, we went to Binga where we held auditions for 50 boys at Binga Primary School, and again, we were so impressed by the talent and potential we found,” Rowlands said.
The prospective actors had an opportunity to act with Sandifolo who offered acting coaching and feedback.
Rowlands said the crew shortlisted some actors and is in the process of coming up with the final cast.
“We now have a shortlist of a handful of names that will be part of the film. Some roles are still being decided so the names are confidential for now. Acting workshops will be conducted over the coming weeks to inform the final decision.
“Then we’ll have location scouting. Thereafter, the whole team will fly out in July before the shoot commences,” she said.
Rowlands, an accomplished Hollywood screenwriter-cum-director wrote the screenplay and is going to be the director, while Harare-based filmmaker Njagu, who is famed for the Netflix film Cook-Off, will be the producer. Together with Chirisa, they teamed up to bring this story to life.
Hollywood-based Chirisa visited Victoria Falls a few months ago to scope the environment and meet with Mupfuti.
The story is expected to put Victoria Falls, Matabeleland North and Zimbabwe in the spotlight, and grow and improve the small film community in Zimbabwe to become an industry that is professional and viable. – @ncubeleon.
Online Reporter