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Brenda Phiri Entertainment Reporter
The local film industry has been crippled by piracy and in recent months, initiatives to curb the ill have gone down the drain. The pirates continue to reap the fruits of artistes’ hard work and whenever the subject is under discussion, emotions flair as victims find it difficult to stomach how they are losing the war.
On the flip side, a Highfield-based movie production company “Rising Family Entertainment” said they have piracy to thank for the fame they have attained so far. Producers of “Problem 1 and 2” said pirates had saved them the hustle of marketing their films beyond their community.
“We are a small group of youths and while we have lost a number of sales to pirates, it seems they have done the big job in spreading our work in different communities,” said 24-year-old director Tatenda Magomo.
The situation is indeed sad but Magombo said they would not join the bandwagon of hopeless artistes and just cry foul. “Since the brand is spreading, we are looking into ways to making money from it. We are now looking for adverts and other partnerships until something can be done to bring these people to book,” he said.
Their latest productions, “Problem 1 and 2” were released on July 1 and 5 respectively but already, the pirates are making a killing on the black market. The movies chronicle the escapades of a problem child who incidentally is called Problem (played by Panashe Phiri).
Set up in your typical high-density site, Problem gives his mother headaches because of his lies and stealing. He almost gets away with everything until the mother resorts to using the services of a traditional healer to fix the thief. The only problem is that she is not aware that her son is the culprit.
Problems are part of the movie again in part 2, only this time Problem himself is the one on the receiving end. The theme is a development from Part 1 as Problem has to man up and accept responsibility for his mischief.
He has a rude awakening when he is forced to marry his pregnant teenage girlfriend and at that moment it ceases to be a game. Drama unfolds when his friend and wife stab him in the back. Oddly, the second movie was written by 15-year-old boy, Benny Phiri. “It is easy to write about the things that happen in our communities. While we want to entertain the viewers, our aim is for them to draw lessons from the stories. It is also an encouragement for the youths not to rush into stuff,” said the soft spoken Benny.
The movies have been a hit in Highfield and surrounding areas. It is clear that it is only a matter of time before the youngsters gain recognition to join the mainstream filmmakers
Online Reporter