Film makers challenged to move with technological trends

Harare (New Ziana) -Film makers should utilise latest technologies to improve the quality of their productions as well as take changing tastes of views into account, a Cabinet Minister said on Friday.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said this a speech read on her behalf by her deputy Kindness Paradza at a Zimbabwe Film and Television School of Southern Africa (ZIFTESSA) graduation ceremony.

She said lack of latest technology is one of the challenges affecting the local film industry.

“To this end, every filmmaker has to remain alive to the technological changes taking place all the time as well as to the changing tastes of the viewing or reading publics. This is one of the key challenges facing all of us, filmmakers included, in the communication sector,” she said.

Mutsvangwa said the licensing of more radio and television stations has created a huge demand for quality local content, a challenge which the new graduates should take up.

“It means content creators now have numerous platforms to showcase their talents. Additionally, this means media houses now look up to you to produce the content for their programming.

“While we have all celebrated this milestone of having a proliferation of community radio stations and private commercial TV stations, the real challenge is that of producing good quality content to meet the high expectations of audiences and viewers,” she said.

The graduates learnt skills such as script writing, producing, directing, cinematography, editing and production design.

Mutsvangwa challenged the 25 ZIFTESSA graduates to start thinking of producing vibrant film and television content that addresses local and regional needs and is globally competitive.

“This is the way to go and the way to create thousands of jobs which in turn will grow our economy.

“But as we go about doing this, we need film and television practitioners who can master the cultural, business and technological environment in which they operate, people who understand the inter-relatedness of these factors and how these can promote their ambitions to succeed in life.

“We also need practitioners who think not only in terms of getting employed but also in terms of creating employment for others as they strive to establish their production houses,” she said.

She encouraged local film makers to continue perfecting their creativeness.

“My call to Zimbabwean film makers is that you must not hesitate to make creative use of what we already have and share by way of our history which is bursting to the seams with heroes and heroines and villains too who remain unrecognised on our screens; make use of our literatures in Isindebele, Shona, Tonga, Venda, Kalanga and English and in other national languages which remain grossly under-utilised up to this day,” she said.

New Ziana