Teacher produces movie
AN ambitious teacher in Binga has produced a movie amid calls by the Government to have local independent producers generating more local content as the country nears completion of the digitisation process.
Kalulu Mumpande, a teacher at Binga High School expressed delight after completing his first ever educational and entertaining movie which he believes will hit the big screen soon.
According to Mumpande, the movie titled Lyamweena Gonta meaning “Deceived by the comfort zone” seeks to encourage people to utilise any good opportunities in life to the fullest for self enhancement and or for the development of their communities.
“Besides drawing from the theme, the story carries a number of sign posts and lessons relevant in our today life,” said Mumpande.
He said the movie has no age limit and it targets audience of all ages, that is, the youths, the school going age in particular, the disadvantaged and the elderly.
“It will go a long way in encouraging our youths to think about their future seriously and make use of time wisely,” said Mumpande. “We have realised that youths, especially in Binga District, fear to tap into various opportunities, with some taken away into the storm of pride.”
He said he has worked with different professionals in the media who have been important catalysts in enhancing his filming skills.
“For this film, I collaborated with Taurai Gibson Takawira who is based in the United Kingdom. He is a producer of films such as Things Some Do For Money (2016), The Blood Suckers (2008) and Dreams Can Come True (2009). He was so instrumental in the production of this movie especially on the technical aspect. I have also worked with Cont Mhlanga as an editor for Binga District in the production of the local drama entitled Zyanyongana (It’s chaotic),” said Mumpande.
He added that the movie is bilingual, comprising Tonga and English in it.
“Language carries with it an identity in terms of culture, norms and values. Anyone who will watch this movie world over will come to know the existence of the BaTonga, the people of the Great River, learn about our culture, what we value most and our norms. The use of English in this movie is to accommodate non-Tonga speaking viewers to get the message,” Mumpande said.
He said he started being involved in filmmaking after completing his Advanced Level when he began wedding filmmaking and other related services.
“My presence in the media is motivated firstly by the inherent talent and passion to promote the skill and talent in Binga District. I do much of the research on film production. The knowledge and skills I have gained so far in filmmaking through the hands-on is quite awesome, though not ultimate,” he said.
“Previously I produced a pilot short comedy titled Wandeezya (You tried me). I came to realise, from the comments that I got from a number of reviewers that I was capable of telling great stories through filmmaking with little resources around me. That is when I decided to form a company, Digital Moments Creative Arts House.”
Mumpande said he envisioned his production house being one of the huge local content producers in the district.
“Most of the content will be from Binga, based on the motivation, passion, support and talent that I witnessed during Lyamweena Gonta production. I also plan to partner and engage with the local organisations to make more productions. Let me also applaud the Government through the Ministry of Education for introducing the element of visual arts in the new curriculum. This will go a long way in enabling youths to acquire skills and venture into the industry at a tender age. If resources permit I would be very happy if one or two schools in Binga District could offer such subjects,” he said.
Mumpande said the movie was already complete and was looking forward to launch it this month.
“The movie is already out and is about 55 minutes long. I am still to engage the content consumers such as our national broadcaster, ZBC, Zambezi Magic and others. I’m looking forward to an overwhelming response towards the production as this will pave way to new productions lined in the future,” he said.
This comes at a time when the Government has vowed to give support through provision of equipment to various independent producers who will be effective in the production of more local content. Government has also revealed that 12 channels will be run under a new digitised system, a situation which will attract a lot of content to be consumed in the market.
Therefore, this translates to good fortunes which the filmmaking industry in the country is heading towards.
Binga District Administrator Lydia Banda praised for his efforts to develop the film industry in the district, saying the move would create more opportunities for youths who would want to take part the sector.
“We have young local actors who have been involved during the productions,” said Mrs Banda “We realised that there is great talent and they only need to be nurtured. With Mumpande starting this project, we feel like there is more Binga can achieve in terms of development in the film industry which has not been active at all.”