Ngoda set for Bulawayo splash

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
AFTER getting rave reviews after its premiere last month, Ngoda, a flick about the killed or be killed lifestyle of illegal miners in the country, is set to make its long-awaited debut in Bulawayo on 26 April at the Academy of Music.

This is after the Harare premiere of the same movie, held on 31 March, was graced by a number of A-listers in entertainment circles, including Feli Nandi, Hope Masike, Munya Chidzonga, Adiona Chidzonga, Tehn Diamond and Lin Barrie among others. The event was sponsored by Telco Broadband.

According to the film synopsis, the movie, set in 2006 tracks the fate of a trio of brothers, who are trying to claim back their land. The Toropito brothers have to raise enough money to buy back their land, forcing them into the illegal diamond mining world where they work for a ruthless diamond dealer who rips them of their finds for low pay outs. Tindo, the eldest of the brothers accidentally finds a big diamond and decides to hide it from everyone, including his brothers and wife.

The diamond is stolen from Tindo and news of the big stone spreads. The hunt for the diamond is on, but how do you find something that has already been stolen? Greed, betrayal and disloyalty leads to fatal consequences in this dramatic thriller.

The film cast is a star-studded ensemble of top Zimbabwean talent which includes Eddie Sandifolo, Elijah Madzikatire, Taurai Kawara, Charmaine Mujeri, Caroline Mashingaidze Zimbizi, Farai Chigudu, Charles Njagu, Dalma Chiwereva, Charity Dlodlo, Lovejoy Mawoneka, Felix Machingambi, Stewart Sakarombe and Chati Butao.

In an interview Ngoda co-director Joe Njagu said a lot of effort had been put into researching and shooting the film.

“Illegal mining is indeed a sore subject to touch on in Zimbabwe. It is something happening in our society and for us as storytellers, we felt the need to tell this story. As filmmakers we are social commentators. The original Ngoda film idea came from Charles Njagu who had the initial concept of the three brothers and a big diamond in the mix.

“Then we developed the idea from there and brought it home. We did a lot of research into illegal diamond mining, even went to visit a lot of illegal miners in different parts of Zimbabwe. In terms of challenges, I don’t wanna lie, we didn’t really face any in telling this kind of story. It’s art and we just created a piece of art from our own point of view,” he said.

Njagu said while shooting independently had been challenging, the effort was gratifying as he believed all their hard work was geared towards building a stronger Zimbabwean film industry.

“As a producer every project is new, so you are always learning. Ngoda was an interesting challenge in that it was quite the ensemble cast and the story was unique in that we wanted to push the bar of Zimbabwe cinema. I had many hats I was wearing so what really helped was the collaborative process that we used on the project. There was a producing team that held the fort and Eddie Sandifolo and I as co-director it helped in that we had collaborated from writing stage till onset so we had one clear vision to follow.

“An ensemble cast is always a treat to have but what really helped is that I had worked with these guys before. Being an independent filmmaker is always challenging because we literally have to make it work on our own.

“There is a bright side to things, that it gives us a chance to establish an industry. I do not believe we have an industry here, still a film sector that we are trying to transition to become an Industry. So, I see an opportunity rather than challenges” he said.

As the film’s core subject was illegal mining, Njagu said one of their main objectives was to take the flick to small-scale mining hotbeds around the country.

“Ngoda is going to do premieres around the country. Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo etc.

“The challenges associated with doing so include places to screen. A lot of cinema spaces are run down or turned into other type of businesses so the structures to screen are no more. So, we have to be creative about it,” he said.