adminArts Focus, Raisedon Baya
Last Tuesday the Oscars nominees were announced. It was exciting to see Mel Gibson’s film Hacksaw Ridge getting about six nominations. For those that haven’t watched the film it is a must see film. Brilliantly told and well directed. I think Mel Gibson is one of Hollywood’s directors that have not yet been given their due recognition. Besides his love of blood and too much violence Mel Gibson is a master storyteller. If Brave Heart and The Passion of the Christ didn’t convince you about Mel Gibson’s talent behind the cameras Hacksaw Ridge will definitely do. The film has the ability to take you through a number of emotions, happiness, anger, sadness. It is simply inspiring.
As we wait for the Oscars night I’m rooting for the film to get Best Picture and Best Director awards. Also happy that Denzel Washington also got nominated. He has an Oscar already for his role as the bad cop in Training Day. This time he is nominated for Fences. I am yet to see the film.
Still on the Oscars I was a bit disappointed by the failure of Queen of Katwe to even get a nomination. For those that have watched this beautiful film about a semi-illiterate Ugandan girl who became a chess grandmaster will agree with me that it is one the best told African stories. More so because the story is not driven by a white person trying to save or guide the black hero or heroine to success. Queen of Katwe is truly about a genius African chess player who rose above poverty and illiteracy to become a hero on the slums. Comparing it to Hidden Figures, another inspiring story I found Queen of Katwe to be a better story. Maybe my bias is because I’m African and related easily with Queen of Katwe than Hidden Figures. But Hidden Figures has about three nominations! Well, that’s Hollywood for you.
A couple of weeks ago I talked about the call by Zambezi Magic for television concepts. When Auidel Dzinoreva from Zambezi Magic came to meet Bulawayo Filmmakers the room was full with producers, writers and director of films. Now a few days to the deadline very few concepts/pilots have been sent to Zambezi Magic. Not that our people have no ideas or brilliant concepts. They have. Very brilliant ideas for television. However, the main challenge was producing a pilot. And to be honest producing a pilot is no walk in the park. You need to invest in resources, personnel and others things to make things move.
And the economy being what it is now most of our so called producers have nothing but mere concepts and ideas on paper. If only there was someone willing to invest on their ideas the film sector in Bulawayo and Zimbabwe in general would be miles away from what it is today.
It is actually sad that young and even old filmmakers are failing to utilise existing platforms like Zimbabwe Television and The Zambezi Magic channel simply because it is very difficult to shoot a movie or a television programme without resources.
There are so many brilliant ideas out there that need someone to turn them from paper to real projects. If these ideas can be turned into tangible projects imagine the amount of jobs that can be created in the sector.
So imagine how many young creatives would love to see their ideas on the small screen and yet failed to submit a pilot to either ZTV or Zambezi Magic.
Online Reporter