Times of Eswatini

Unthinkabl­e II launch this weekend

- BY MXOLISI DLAMINI

MBABANE – Comfort Ndzinisa’s ‘Unthinkabl­e II’ documentar­y will be launched on Saturday via online streaming.

The first ‘Unthinkabl­e’ documentar­y was released last year on October 3. It documented the events that took place during the June/July political unrest and it gained popularity with not only Eswatini, but also neighbouri­ng countries such as South Africa (SA). It debuted on South African Broadcasti­ng Corporatio­n’s (SABC) ‘Cutting Edge’ programme. ‘Unthinkabl­e II’ details more on Eswatini unrest especially how the unrest affected locals. However, there aren’t any similarity to the last documentar­y. Both documentar­ies were produced by Mzomba Production­s, a local production company owned by Ndzinisa.

When reached for comment Ndzinisa said: “Aside from the narrative itself, since the unrest is evolving, the production itself has changed a bit, with a few upgrades here and there.

Experience

“The experience from the last one has changed things a lot. The content itself is different because of the way people were affected by the unrest; their circumstan­ces are diverse and all unique. None of the stories are similar to any of the ones featured in the first documentar­y.”

When probed on how the second documentar­y is different from the first one, he said: “The main goal is to create awareness, for emaSwati to see the full extent of the damage caused by the choices we make as a country each day, and to sensitise emaSwati of how desperate some of the situations are in terms of needs caused by the unrest. We hope that the country will reflect on these choices and improve on handling our difference­s in political views,

The cover poster of ‘Unthinkabl­e and have a more peaceful journey towards political reform without any bloodshed or victimisat­ion. We hope the documentar­y will help put an end to physical torture, arson attacks and intimidati­on due to the ongoing political tensions,” he added.

The trailer of the documentar­y will be aired at the launch, as well as discussion­s based on further details about the documentar­y.

II’.

The production team has been working on the project for almost three months now, and according to Ndzinisa it’s not a necessaril­y isolated project, but part of a much bigger project.

In producing and ensuring that the documentar­y is a success, Ndzinisa acknowledg­ed two organisati­ons that they worked with, citing Eswatini Solidarity Fund which was in the first documentar­y and Eswatini for Change, a United States chapter for Swazi Lives Matter. “The two organisati­ons will launch Sibumbene Relief Fund this Saturday, an initiative aimed at assisting those who have been victims of the unrest, especially those who lost properties among other damages. The aim of the partnershi­p is to help create awareness on the extent of the damages and for emaSwati to help one another in getting back on their feet given that families lost homes, businesses and other essentials,” Ndzinisa said.

Due to the sensitive events contained in the documentar­y, he made it clear that it is not pleasant to watch but encouraged emaSwati to check out the documentar­y after it’s released, “It’s not exciting to watch obviously, because these are our parents, brothers, sisters, colleagues and neighbors.

Unrest

“But I must promise emaSwati that this is surely a must-watch. You cannot watch this documentar­y and look at the unrest the same way again. The full documentar­y will be available very soon at a date and platform to be announced.”

He concluded by acknowledg­ing that he only seeks to tell the stories through his production, not to drive any political agenda. “Even though I’m in full support of political reform, I don’t work for or affiliate to any political group. However, so long as they advocate for political reform and defend human rights, I fully support them. I can work with and support anyone who condemns violence on emaSwati. Mzomba Production is all about telling stories of Emaswati, from tragedies

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(Courtesy pic)

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