Chronicle Editor
Tonderai Zvimba, Showbiz Reporter
ACTRESS and veteran modelling instructor Sarah Mpofu-Sibanda is back on the silver screen as she is featuring in a film – The Letter that will be premiered next year.
The film is about the effects of the retrenchments in 2015 which rendered thousands in Zimbabwe jobless without benefits.
The mass retrenchments were sparked by a Supreme Court ruling that redundancy pay-outs were not obligatory and employers wanting to fire workers only needed to give workers three months’ notice.
Produced by theatre guru Daves Guzha and Joe Njagu in collaboration with Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN), Sarah plays the role of the wife of a man who was retrenched.
A trailer of the movie was recently uploaded online and many people reacted positively towards the film saying that they could not wait for its release. Some suggested that it be turned into a TV series.
In an interview, Mpofu-Sibanda said: “I’ll be playing the part of a wife whose husband is dismissed. My husband decides to hide the truth from me, his family and basically everyone. Because of this, I go through an emotional journey, battling to accept the truth and trying to keep the family united – pretending all is well.
“However, the truth has a way of rearing its ugly head. It’s really an exciting, but emotional movie,” said Sarah.
She said she was excited to be back on the silver screen.
“I’m so excited to be a part of this production written by two of the country’s top names in the industry (Joe Njagu and Daves Guzha). I’ve worked with Mr Guzha in many productions before on both big screen and theatre, but this is the first production I’ve worked on with Njagu.”
The Letter navigates through the demise of the protagonist Simon (played by Emmanuel Mbirimi) whose retirement dreams are shattered when he is given a letter of dismissal before he retires.
Afterwards, he is faced with destitution and embarrassment as his 23-year-old son is forced to stop his university education for non-payment of tuition fees and his 25-year-old mistress announces that she is carrying his baby.
All these series of events lead Simon to do unlawful deeds against the company he worked for.
The film also features comedian Admire “Bhutisi” Kuzhangaira.
derick.khumalo