Actress interrogates GBV through TV series

BULAWAYO actress Ellain Ncube has said she is working on an epic television series titled The Debt Clearance which revolves around different themes such as women oppression and investigations on societal expectations.

Written by Ncube, the 13-episode series will be shot by Roc-Media Filmz, while award-winning actor Percy Soko will direct and choreograph the fights.

“My new project is a television series that explores different themes from oppression of women, love, self-sacrifice, hate, anger and abuse to mention just, but a few. It also investigates societal expectations and some beliefs that I felt were kind of oppressive,” Ncube told NewsDay Life & Style.

“How children, when growing up, are made to believe that they owe their parents for giving birth to them ... and as a result, sometimes they fail to live their lives well because they are trying to repay, or to shape their parents’ lives.”

Ncube said she chose to explore the series in a cultural setting to present the “facts” in a certain way that says culture oppresses people.

“Through the series, I am tracing back to where oppression began. So, there is a certain time when I read so many articles about child marriages, rape and genderbased violence and I wanted to really address those issues,” she said.

“I am a creative, I chose to use my writing as way of communicating my opinions. In the story, the main character is a female, a strong and very opinionated girl ... she is determined to fight oppression of women.”

Ncube said through the film, she sought to make women aware of how powerful they were and how they deserved to be treated well and pursue their goals without being judged.

“I am not only the series writer, but also the lead actress because I feel I can bring out the idea well because it is a personality story that presents my thought. I am targeting everyone because some issues to do with abuse affect everyone,” she said.

“The series has some theatre actors like Mzingaye Ngwabi and Khumbulani Ncube playing major roles as well.”