imagine art after

What do l want my film making to do? First and most importantly l want my films to entertain because l am not much of an educative writer but an entertainer. I consider myself a vessel that can persuade the audience to laugh and cry when they should. I have an overflowing passion for my work and l have ideas for good stories simply because l have over the years developed an eye that is able to see the emotional and physical details of the human race.

The fact that l am African means my stories will always have that African flavor but l don’t want to write stories that will gather dust on the shelf.  What l write about will not be  important but l would rather come up with stories that will ‘reach’ any kind of audience. What is crucial at this stage in my career is audience reaction and l know my targeted audience.

I have carefully selected the idea for my first movie script because it fits my emotional desire and l have lived it. Experience in the flesh is not the only best place where one can get good writing ideas but such are ideas that one can write best. I also selected the idea because it promised a lot of complications and the story had the potential to pull it’s audience into different emotions. It is an idea that has carried the script right through to the end and is a story that my audience would want to see.

A piece of my own flesh makes up this fascinating story of two lovers brought together by fate to help them deal with the ghosts in their past.  They are both dealing with the same issues but in search of something totally different. Thabo is on his unending journey in search of love and Unathi in her quest to find her identity.The story is deceitful but passionate, violent and raw.

Love stories have been written before and no idea can totally claim individuality but nobody has lived my life and no other writer will ever write the story like me.

What do l want? I’m an aggressively ambitious woman. I want international recognition for my work and financial independence. I’m not only passionate or talented at what l do but my award winning work does prove that l am very good at what l do. My desire to enter the international arena could require additional training or working attachments in the art of film making to familiarize myself with current trends.  I’m also a screen director and working attachments with big players in the industry will give me hands on experience and improve my skills. After all, l am shooting my first big screen movie in 2011, and l need all the experience l can get to be able to pull it off successfully.

Another thing that l really want is to open a Production House which will groom and promote young talent in the art of film making. Over the years, l have turned down many aspiring screenwriters who were inspired by my work and wanted me to train them.  A small group will be engaged at a certain time.

The seventh movement

I have no idea how the script of the seventh movement ended up in my ‘writing’ room and I don’t even remember who wrote it or if I ever read the full script. I was clearing ‘junk’ and came across a few pages of what looked like extracts from a novel.

“What do you mean?” Bart asks Nico while writing out the cheque.

“you new whites are all the same … we come here and start a business, employing people and their families and looking after the blacks and then suddenly they want to take the business away from us because we made a success of it. I mean, just look at this bloody business directory for black businesses …that’s fucking discrimination man …look, I will get it, its right in the paper.” Nico ducks under the counter where there is a newspaper lying, a copy of  Herald with a half page black and white advert for a black businesses directory to be compiled to serve the cause of black empowerment and endorsed by the president of the country.

“Here’s your cheque, Nico …look, I don’t agree with this shit either but the bitterness started somewhere, perhaps as a result of the way people were treated in the past…” Bart turns to go but Nico stops him. “Hey, listen, man…even my foreman is taking me to the Labor Board for being a racist, I’m telling you. It’s not bloody fair, these people show no fucking gratitude, even after 20 years!”

“These people - you mean your workers, Nico? Anyway, thanks to your foreman, Pete, for a good job. Bye”

Bart walks out to his car with Nico shaking his head.

About racism…

The story as it stands, still quoted from the seventh movement.

“The way I figure it out is that we all have a love-hate relationship with people who are different to ourselves. The Ndebele and the Shona fight, the white and the Bosnians and the Serbians, the French and the English, the Americans, and the Iraqis, the coloureds and the  rest of the human race but more often than not, it’s a class thing or based on religion or fundamentalism. Parents are to blame by teaching their kids that only their kind is made in the true image. People are tired of message films. Nobody wants preaching. How can you make a film about something like racism when any thinking person in their right mind already knows the truth but carries on hating his neighbor, anyway?”

“Why do you think you are not a racist Bart?” Jane asks.

“I probably am, a lot of the time but I guess I’ve never been good at sport or being in the team, so I’ve never belonged anyhow. That’s probably what saved me…what made me fight against the rest.”

“So you are just like all the other European Liberals who come here and hate the local whites because they hate their own kind and try to love us blacks as if they were doing us a favor?  You and your stupid protestant conscience, I tell you!” Jane laughs.

Bart is on the roll and carries on with his thoughts, without a pause.

“Everybody needs an enemy they feel they can identify. That’s why Hitler made the Jews visible. In Africa, the whites don’t need to wear a badge, that’s the difference. They’re already an identifiable minority!”

In 1980 – Zimbabwe…

It is 1980; the eighteenth of April and fireworks light the sky. Cars are hooting in the streets. The President’s face appears on the television. Judy comes in pregnant and laughing, to her flat. She is waving a Zimbabwean flag. She is drunk and making one hell of a noise. The next door flat opens to reveal a glaring and angry young white man, unshaven, with a lion lager in his hand. He growls,

“Can’t you people keep quiet and let the rest of civilization have some sleep?”

“Cockorriko!” Judy crows at him. Happy Independence Comrade!” she laughs.

“I’m not a comrade.” The man responds and goes back inside.

I hereby rest my case…

Thoko

Quotable Quotes…

A great deal of confusion arises in both academic and political discourse when culture in the humanistic sense is not distinguished from ‘culture’ in its anthropological senses, notably culture as the total and distinctive way of life of  people or society. From the latter point of view it is meaningless to talk of ‘the relation between culture and the economy,’ since the economy is part of a people’s culture. Indeed the ambiguities in this phrase pose the great ideological issue confronted by the commission: is ‘culture ’ an aspect or a means of ‘development,’ the latter understood as material progress, or  is ‘culture’ the end and aim of ‘development,’ the latter understood as the flourishing of human existence in its several forms and as a whole?

Marshall Sahlins

The word is our village. It one catches fire, the roots over our heads are immediately at risk. If one of us tries to start rebuilding, his efforts will be purely symbolic. Solidarity has to be the order of the day: each of us must bear his own share of general responsibility.

Jacques Delors

Why we need global ethics…

Development is a complex and ambitious Endeavour. To secure for all human beings in all parts of the world the conditions allowing a decent and meaningful life requires enormous energies and far reaching changes in policies. The task is all the more demanding as the world faces numerous other problems, each related to or even part of the development challenge, each similarity pressing and each calling for the same urgent attention but as one Arnold Toynbee once said, “this is the dawn of history in which mankind dares to believe it practical to make the benefits of civilization available to the whole human race”

Co-operation between different people with different interests and from different cultures will be facilitated and conflict kept within acceptable and even constructive limits, if all can see themselves  as being bound and motivated by shared commitments. It is therefore, imperative to look for a core of shared ethical values and principles, who are we? How do we relate to each other and to humankind as a whole? What is our purpose?

Such questions will give us answers as to what our culture is about. We can also draw inspiration from our emotional experiences our historical memories and our spiritual orientations. We can however share certain principles as people with widely different interests.

a)      Human rights and responsibilities.

b)      Democracy and the elements of civil society.

c)      The protection of minorities.

d)      Commitment to peaceful conflict resolution and fair negotiation and

e)      Intergenerational equity

All governments have a responsibility to effect such principles. I will also include another important quote from the president of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare in 1993…

As long as any civilization applies political, intellectual and moral coercion on others on the basis of endowments nature and history have bequeathed to it, there can be no hope of peace for humanity: the negation of the cultural specificities of any people is tantamount to the negation of its dignity.

Andrew…

Yes…life and death are one and so we live…and die at some point. Nobody has the power to bring back the dead but when the wind blows, their presence sometimes fills the air.The only problem with the wind is that you can’t touch it. It was very sad to see him go so early in life because like his Dad, he was only a boy. Thank you for the comfort.

You’re one explosive volcano and l love your fire but shouldn’t we let go of the ‘hurt’ at some point so we can make peace with the rest of the world and move forward?

I did mention earlier in my previous postings that l am no politician but an ordinary woman with ordinary political views. To be angry is human and we can’t change what happened in our past but we have the power to shape our future. Let us take responsibility for Africa as Africans and own it.

Thoko,
How are you. I hope this post finds you and your family well. Stay strong.

Essays
What are the principal characteristics and functions of Aid in the global system?
http://docs.google.com/View?id=df3gp4zn_0fq4858fh

Globalisation threatens the diversity of local cultures and society. Discuss.
http://docs.google.com/View?id=df3gp4zn_8hbq6w4c5

Above are links to 2 essays I wrote a while back. In fact I have referred you to one of them before. Reading back on your last post I thought it would be a good idea to revisit them. Analysed, they paint a picture of the so-called global political economic system and how it affects the majority world. I have come to realise however, that the way issues such as these are perceived back home if they are perceived at all is vastly different from the international view. An Iranian friend observes the same. Properly studied the idea that ‘our struggles in Africa and Zimbabwe have gone past the stage of the so called super powers of the European countries because most African countries are now independent’ is the greatest example of this difference in perception and is the result of an illusion centuries old. Africans think they are free. If they truly were, the current world map which emphasises the geo-political interest of Western powers wouldn’t be the same one cobbled up during the ‘Scramble for Africa’ in the 19th century. All African countries as it stands are a construct created by western politicians, cartographers, banks, corporations to facilitate the exploitation of African nature and people back then and this is still maintained today, nothing more. If Africa and Africans were free we would loath the use of constructs to define us. Certainly the idea of Rhodesia was created by Cecil Rhodes – it is a construct. We have to ask ourselves seriously how the idea of Zimbabwe is different. If we were truly free would it exist or would all of ‘Africa’ be one with its different peoples free to move about as they wish without friction at one with nature according to our ancient teaching. But look it does, and many Zimbabweans ironically claim to be free in the prison of Rhodesia now called Zimbabwe for political correctness. If Zimbabwe was free the continued exploitation of her people and her nature (termed natural resources) through deceit and imperialism would have seized in 1980. Free!!my ass!! And today so called africans endorse the global trade in natural resources and the african is still seen as a source of cheap labour everywhere you go in this world even in his own ‘country’. It would appear we are more that willing to be used. Many have become kings on the back of our hard labour. This continues to happen and is happening at this very moment. By accepting the idea of countries ‘Africans have made the ultimate compromise as the continued existence of the idea makes it much easier for the powers that be to exploit Africa’s nature and people. We ‘Zimbabweans’ now even have a Prime Minister and a ‘global political agreement’ to endorse the construct. If Black People where free we would all be Black People (Vanhu Vatema) and not insist on being defined as African let alone Zimbabwean, Zambian, Angolan, Tanzanian, Black American. We should be seeking a day of collective independence as a people. Africa ndiyo yacho Nyika yedu. Musha wedu. The ‘African Village’ as you put it. Naizvozvo Nyika ndiyo yatinoziva. Izwi rokutiAfrica rakauya kwatiri nengarava. Ndizvo? Vanonyora inonzi’etymology’ vangatsamwe namashoko aya asi chokwadi ndechokuti hapana anoziva. AsiNyika yedu hatichaiziva pamusaka pezvinonzi maborder uye kwesekwatinoenda kunevatema sesu vanoti vakasiyana nesu isu tichiziva kuti tinaAmai vamwe chete - hausi huroyi hwamadhunamutuna here iwowo? NeHunhu hwedu tichararama. Munhu anozivikanwa neHunhu hwake ka, sekungozivikanwa kunoitwa imbwa nehumbwa hwayo. Chokwadi hupenyu murimuka ramadhunamutuna rinoshandura munhu kuitambwa chaiyoyo…asi anoziva anotanga nokuzivaHunhu hwake. The idea of country specific independence served it’s purpose a long time ago and has gradually become defunct. The emancipation of all Black people is the necessity and to do this we do not need anyone else but to readjust our consciousness to understand the tyrany of money which is the prime motivation behind the exploitation of ‘Africa’ and it’s nature and people (termed natural resources). If we are not careful we’ll end up back in the cane fields cutting sugar cane for pennies to sweeten European tea grown on our exploited mountains in Tanganda and to fuel their cars - and this is already happening to our brothers and sisters lost in Brazil -oh no, it has been happening to us in ‘free zimbabwe’ for years, the guys in ‘brazil’ are just more efficient at it. In fact the more you look at it, Black People did not freely choose these definitions, they were and are still imposed and they are indeed the source of our lack of freedom. So….’most African countries are independent’….there is an inbuilt conflict in that statement alone which is obvious. Moreover even if we choose to accept the idea of an African country we will realise even more so that the fact that most countries are affiliated to the certain global institutions the idea of their independence is absurd. You can’t be puppet and claim to me independent ask Pinocchio - you will rather, always wish you were a real boy and because of that….I’m afraid you will never be you. Even then, it was Pinocchio’s freedom from the strings controlling his behaviour that allowed him to develop the consciousness to wish he was a real boy. The present dynamic of ‘African’ power was decided during the scramble for Africa by imperialist powers and those strings determining our behaviour were never severed. As long as this is maintained Black People might as well forget freedom. ‘We must fight’ and there are clever ways to do this which do not involve the gun or violence - true glory is in truth and non violence - ask, the Spirit of Chaminuka says so. While on conflict, contemporary theory on ‘conflict transformation’ is what leads many from the west to create conflict with the express aim of changing the nature of traditional cultures and the more you study this trend the more you realise that many conflicts around the world revolve around this theory, with the supposedly good intentions of NGOs (usually staffed by locals with international training) and aid workers providing the stimulus for conflict. In fact a vast chasm exists between domestic and international perception, given for the most part indigenous peoples world wide, Africans particularly are very nationalistic, maintain their adoption of western christianity at the expense of their traditions, continue to adopt european names and give them to their children (I being one such child) and are still very trusting of international Institutions particularly Bretton Woods Institutions and the Vatican despite their use as a tool to facilitate the covert maintenance of an unequal system through various manipulative mechanisms - Aid being one issue I delve into in greater detail in one of the essays attached. I only say this because the idea of western christianity was given to the majority of Black people in many cases by force (the Kebra Negast from the pre colonial Ethiopian Orthodox Church - Yäityop’ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan exists for Africans with a preference for christianity but few care or know about it). It’s not a surprise really because most indigenous governments have maintained and improved the same institutions, laws and policies designed by imperialists to breed ignorance. It’s unbelievable but even today Roman-Dutch Law and the prison system persist in Zimbabwe and in many other ‘African Countries’ yet we still claim to be free. The very Law (and the entire legal system) isn’t even of our own making let alone the political system. The education system is by design not meant to educate the masses about the real mechanism of reality. Most if not all African ‘leaders’ (by this usually people mean Presidents, Ministers and the like) like many leaders around the world as long as they continue to be an integral part of these global institutions have no power to drive policies in favour of the people they allegedly govern. They shall remain condemned to the status of pawns with no prospect of even becoming queens - in short, in this system, they have no balls and have no chance of ever having them - all policy comes from the top down in this system - i.e. from the Bretton Woods Institutions filtering down, hence the crippling effects of economic structural adjustment programs during the 1990s (ESAP), passed down to us from the neo-liberal policy which dominates these global institutions. The revolution was sold out a long time ago or in your words the ‘compromise’ was facilitated a long time ago - either that or our so called leaders were tricked badly and that wouldn’t be the first and last time either…Wasn’t Lobengula tricked into signing the Rudd Concession…. and was it not his trusted right hand man who was bribed with bags of gold coins manufactured from african gold, into convincing him to sign the paper which would ultimately lead us here. Make no mistake about it, current political tomfoolery is the tool needed to confuse and prevent the masses from revolting. Ours is a history packed with sell outs, the exploitation of nature and slavery at the hands of conquerers from yonder. In fact politicians from the majority world through their new found belief in paper now merely serve as facilitators in the distribution of contracts (concessions) to multinational corporations such as Rio Tinto and Monsanto financed by big banking corporations such as Barclays, J.P Morgan Deutsche Bank, Citi Bank etc etc in the continued exploitation of nature and people (termed ‘natural resources’). In exchange they receive large quantities of printed paper called money. Sometimes new ‘zeros’ mysteriously appear in their electronic bank accounts. To generate money these institutions and their agents claim they have to kill nature and indeed they do. This is happening everywhere, from South Africa and Zimbabwe all the way to Brazil and Mauritania. It is this same reasoning which bankrupted Europe and exhausted all it’s natural resources caused untold poverty leading many to cannibalism and killed many people and animals through catastrophic wars culminating in the massive poverty which in turn forced her to resort to the evil of imperialism/colonialism. Under today’s neo imperialism/colonialism Indigenous peoples - the masses are merely a source of cheap flexible labour and in their poverty, chaos has created an insanity which leads to tribal conflict and black on black criminality… and this as seen by those at the top, is a desired effect - ‘divide and conquer’ - Irish history will tell you all about how this is supposed to play out. You have heard the word ‘Povho/ Povo’ being used to describe the masses as those affected by poverty. A divided people is an exploited and conquered people…and an exploited and conquered people forms the very basis of the Global Political Economic System. Its unequal structure with 30 OECD countries (the so called richest if we choose to accept Adam Smith’s definition of wealth) at the top and 160 countries at the bottom is elaborated on in the first essay hyperlinked above and below. And if you want to see the potential of the previously exploited to exploit their own because of greed and money look at China and its many ‘factories’ today since the English Industrial Revolution moved there. Ironically many urban Africans in their ignorance love labelled clothing most of which comes from the exploited masses of China. Unfortunately, in these times all government is corrupt! We were given cattle for a reason and at least 10000 years of documented African history proves that. I like the phrase ‘putting African Village in order’. And I know you mentioned the tendency to blame but there is no blame being dished out here – merely the harsh cold reality of the system which few see and the majority fall victim.

For those who have ears and eyes vakomana veMbira Dzenharira put it across with precision.
Madhunamutuna amaitaura akazouya
Zvavakauya vakaponda ponda harahwa dzenyu
Zvavakauya vakapindapinda muninga dzenyu
Vapedza zvavo vakasandura mazita edu
Musoro waChinengundu kutakura kuenda nawo
Tsvimbo yaMukwati takazoshinga tikaitevera
Ndarama yedu vakachera vakadikitira
Nyika yedu vakagovana kuita madiro
Mhandara dzedu vakagovana chimanda hapana
Mapfupa angu vachazopfuka Nehanda waireva
Vanavangu woye ndangandichiti magarira imi.
Pasipamera madhunamutuna.

Zvavakaramba vakakavara takavabangura
Tavarova vakarangana zvokutinyengedza
Chembere dzanaHatsvigiri kuuraya hapana
Nhorowondo dzenyu pasi tsvwe pfungwa pamari iwe
Harahwa misoro muzvikari matare hakuna
Nyika yoita rubvanzi bvanzi kudya kwemhumhi iwe
Pasipamera madhunamutuna
Chaminuka we huya uzowona zviripano.
Madhunamutuna chenjera unopondewa!

Regardless, I shall take you up on your promise to collaborate.

They called me ‘Andrew Tafadzwa Sanyangore - an African’

Essays

What are the principal characteristics and functions of Aid in the global system?
http://docs.google.com/View?id=df3gp4zn_0fq4858fh

Globalisation threatens the diversity of local cultures and society. Discuss.
http://docs.google.com/View?id=df3gp4zn_8hbq6w4c5

Thoko,

I’m currently num from the sad news you just mentioned about your nephew. It feels like somehow I knew him as well, hence grief consumes me. We have to be strong through tough times such as these. Having recollected my thoughts I however feel less inclined to say much rather prefering the solitude of my heart through meditation. Vakuru vakataura wani - life and death are one.
I’ve decided that I will try to make a trip to hold hands in the not so distant future…. writing alone in times like this for me won’t do.
I’ll let you know how those plans go with time.
With regard to all else we have been discussing the best way forward it to organise…..as Marcus Garvey once said, ‘organise or perish’. Putting hands together. To organise ourselves into an entity worth investing effort in, that is the task….the idea of the organisation itself is the skeleton and the work and effort invested in making it reach its objectives creates the body. Much like this website is a skeleton of intellectual effort which needs the intellectual effort of the many artists participating in the dialogues for its substance/body. The constant effort/work is what creates the value. That effort/work is no doubt created by the will of people like you and me and many others through the deployment of our hearts minds hands legs etc. Behind Oprah is a massive organisation. Behind Tshaka was massive organisation… Great Zimbabwe is the product of great organisation. Organisation broadens the scale of participation in a single activity beyond the scope of the individual to reach a common goal(s) and no doubt broadens the skills base as well. All ‘power to the people’ philosophy stems from this……an empowered people is a free people…… and the first step towards empowerment is to organise individual effort into collective effort. Money is simply one by-product (of many) of such organisation, much like hitting the target with a bow and arrow is the product of the prior preparation involving steady and calm mental and physical effort. Obsession with hitting the target usually results in missing it because the nature of your effort is clouded from absolute concentration on the various stages of preparation and maintaining a steady mind and posture. Either way, the gold standard which used to give money it’s value no longer exists….in reality what gives money its value today is the labour behind it. The good thing about being organised is there is no room for differences, in fact they usually automatically seize to exist. Some organisations today maintain a hierarchical structure embedding differences and power struggles but you will know that many organisations have an equality clause which means each member only gets 1 vote in the decision making process. The job there is to do is putting together a constitution and setting out the objectives of the “Production Studio’ you mentioned with as many participants as possible, putting together a coherent business plan and strategic document, setting out the work we have to do, beliefs/ values, establishing partnerships with existing organisations and finding out exactly what resources are available to get the project up to a stage where it becomes self sufficient and empowers people. Think of the idea of the organisation as a way of legitimising future effort. The resources required to get it up and running will come from this kind of effort no doubt. I am currently studying a lot of literature on participatory video methodologies and I THINK I’m onto something special with regard to an idea that has been floating around in my head for a while. When we meet up we really need to put our hands together like you said and jointly work on something strong. For now I shall start working solidly on getting myself down there.

Nematambudziko

AK

Andrew…

Over the years, the political crisis in our country has negatively affected amongst other things, the film industry. Finance has become a big hindering factor because there’s no constant cash flow supporting the arts industry. We have lost most of our experienced and talented people to greener pastures and we have sort of become a ‘ghost’ country in terms of feature film production.

A closer analysis will reveal that our local films have rarely brought in big earnings or critical acclaim simply because there were no big names like Whoopie Goldberg who starred in South Africa’s ‘Sarafina’ and Denzel Washington who played Steve Biko in ‘Cry Freedom’ which was shot here in Zimbabwe. I however believe that it’s possible for Africans to tell their own stories and be competitive.

You might be tempted to ask why foreigners are used to depict a Zimbabwean or South African story if we have so much talent to do the job ourselves but the reasons are simply economic. The movie companies have to profit from the money they invest in the making of the film and marketability of a movie is also a major influence for using foreign and recognized actors. It is however possible for our local actors to grace international movies not because someone is doing them a favor but because they are good.

I remember  two of our many  Zimbabwean movies, Neria and More Time. Prudence Katumeni played a convincing role as a teenager in More time  and so was the female lead role in Neria. They were both awarded for their outstanding performances including our legend singer, Oliver Mutukudzi for the sound track for Neria.

No player in the industry wants to be treated like a second class citizen but we need to up our game so we can be treated and paid like the international stars. Hope for upcoming film makers in Zimbabwe lies with short film projects but the problem with short films is that they go as far as festivals. We no longer have the state of the art equipment because some of the institutions previously housing some of it have either relocated and others were shut down after being mismanaged.

We can pick up the pieces and rebuild our film industry if we find the right financial support. It is not enough that we only provide suitable venues for international box office hits. We must produce our own films because if more Zimbabweans writers and actors were on Hollywood’s ‘A’ list, more producers and directors would want to travel to Zimbabwe to work with them. After all, a film is only as good as the number of people who see it.

Thoko

Your work /Our collaboration

I was and am still thinking about writing a book called ‘the I ‘you’ calls me’ - Its a shona/ndebele book translated into Persian explaining the use of these 3 concepts in massaging our minds to accept individualism. In fact I have drafted a few pages. Not electronically though. I aught to really. Perhaps rather than working solo we should put our heads together and co-author the thing since you write already and according to you have come to some understanding of the meaning of your existence. But given We haven’t yet got round to archiving our cultural heritage and practices , the job I’ve given myself before creating anything new is understanding more and more of the archaic….

You say you haven’t written anything electronically yet and you’ve scribbled something only on a piece of paper. It will help if you give me more information so l can ‘understand’ exactly what you want us to do because execution of the idea will be the most important thing.

Send me your email add I’ll email you so I can send you a copy of a constitution for Rurimi Rwedu, an organization I’m working on setting up with some brothers, to preserve many shadows.

Please do send me the constitution when you do after l give you my email address. I also have every intention of collaborating with you in my works. I’ll be submitting my movie script and we should also submit a project together. I want to work with you which ever way will be possible. Continuing with our dialogue will help us understand each other better and the way we work in our various fields.

My work / Money as a universal language rather than English

I do a lot of things but writing is my passion. I’m also a theater writer and director but am currently focusing on my movie script and shooting it. My first play was adapted from renowned Norwegian Henrik Ibsen’s play; ‘A Doll’s House’ where l explored female sexuality in 2003. The play was a national award nominee for best stage production.

Over the years I’ve realized that my nugget of wisdom has come from my maturity as the fear of failure became less powerful and I’ve become less afraid to pursue my writing career.

I believe that people and women in particular, should never be afraid to fail because like Oprah Winfrey once said – failure is another stepping stone to greatness. My ultimate dream is to set up a fully equipped Production House that will groom young talent and produce African stories that will win awards in the regional and international markets.

Money has a tendency to make the world go on a jolly ride and without it humanity suffers. That is the reality of how things stand today and like everybody else, we need money in order to survive.

l do appreciate the use of my mother tongue in my work and all of my award winning work was in that language and a mixture of both English and ndebele – a television Soap and Drama series. I’m now more interested in a wider market and this screenplay being my first movie script, has been written in English. l will subtitle it for my Zimbabwean audience. Writers can set their own rules but the industry demands that we embrace changing markets. Being a full time screenwriter is a job like any other and l have to get paid for my work.

I was a television writer, producer and director for a couple of years which is where l won all my awards. Working in that kind of environment was priceless and is the reason l am where l am today. I had access to equipment and even though the production budgets were minimum, the team l worked with was committed to their work.

Andrew…

I have suffered a death in the family. My 20 year old late brother’s son was pushed off the 11^th floor of a flat in South Africa. We bury him in Zimbabwe this Saturday. This has somehow opened old wounds and I’m reminded of the death of my brother who died on the operating table. I was very close to him but somehow over the years, the loss of him had been replaced by the wind. I requested that Breda extend our dialogue so we could catch up on lost time. I hope you’ll agree to this arrangement.

You speak of many issues in one posting, and I’m caught up in the whirl wind and have no idea which direction I’m supposed to turn first but will make an attempt to sort of break it down and briefly comment on all the issues as below…

Battle between languages [English versus native languages]

1. People’s culture and traditional bases.
2. Superiority of European countries over African countries
3. Money as a universal language rather than English
4. The entertainment industry and opportunities in Zimbabwe
5. Your future plans and intentions.
6. My future plans and intentions.

Battle between languages [English versus native languages]

Some of the above go hand in hand but it will be easier to properly execute them if we break each subject down.  I wasn’t aware of the fact that English was only a communicative tool and not a language. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and that is the beauty of the world we live in. Sometimes conflict is necessary to get past certain differences to make space for progress.

Isn’t every other language used as a communicative tool? Does language necessarily mean one has to speak in a ‘certain’ manner or behave in a ‘certain’ way?  I think language in what ever form is  a tool for communication. People can even judge you by the way you dress although their judgment cannot always be accurate. Who has the right to judge and say other people’s language is inferior to others?

An English speaking person will also argue and say African languages are of primitive nature. Culture is a way of life adopted by people and it changes every time and English is currently the universal language. Who knows which language will be adopted in the future?

Language or communication is already divided in its own sense. We have become a global village which makes it impossible for all our different cultures to remain intact in their original form. This also means we should embrace other peoples’ cultures even though it doesn’t mean abandoning our own. I do agree with you to a certain extent that culture and tradition grounds people and that black people have a tendency to follow other people’s ‘culture’ and take for granted their own. Everybody has the freedom of choice and why some Africans ‘adopt’ other people’s cultures can be best explained by the people concerned.

This doesn’t how ever make any human race superior than the other. Speaking English doesn’t affect who l am or what l represent not only as an African but also as a Zimbabwean. Everybody has their own history which makes them who they are but no human is individual. Everybody has something that identifies them with another person or tribe.

Imagine what would happen if everybody wanted to communicate with each other in their own language. I’ll give you a typical example closer to home in reference to South Africa which has 13 official languages. I think the emphasis should be encouraging people to get in touch with their roots rather than finding fault with other cultures.

Superiority of European countries over African countries

Some of these power struggles stimulate unnecessary conflict which build up to wars that further divide nations. Our struggles in Africa and Zimbabwe have gone past the stage of the so called super powers of the European countries. After all, most African countries are now independent. The reality of the situation is that we blacks have always struggled with our identity after colonization and still find ourselves with an even greater struggle in the Diaspora.

What we need to do is redefine ourselves and remember where we come from and remind our children who they are so they don’t forget. The rule doesn’t change l think because when in Rome, one is forced to behave like them Romans but the Romans don’t live in our homes. What is stopping us from speaking our own language and practicing our traditions so we are able to preserve our heritage and keep our identity in Rome?

I dream of a world where we engage in peaceful dialogue rather than fighting or playing the blame game.  I want the same for my country as we continue to fight for supremacy amongst ourselves. The blaming game pushes us deeper into trouble because the focus is no longer about putting the African village in order. The inability to work together as African leaders has added to our misfortunes. We have become enemies to ourselves because it doesn’t matter what the neighbors or relatives may say - if a man loves his woman he loves her.

If our leaders loved their country, their people and Africa, they should agree to disagree and compromise so we can regain our sanity. I hope you won’t think me naïve or biased but rules of engagement don’t stay the same. Culture evolves and so should African politics if we want to become the future power house. Our continued struggle for democracy shouldn’t mean going back to the bush with blazing guns and people dying because the common trend with our African leaders is that they want to cling to power.

I’m usually able to interpret dreams but yours is politically complicated and l have no idea what it means but you’re right - dreams have a way of predicting the future.

Thoko

I was and am still thinking about writing a book called ‘the I ‘you’ calls me’ - Its a shona/ndebele book translated into persian explaining the use of these 3 concepts in massaging our minds to accept individualism. In fact I have drafted a few pages. Not electronically though. I aught to really. Perhaps rather than working solo we should put our heads together and co-author the thing since you write already and according to you have come to some understanding of the meaning of your existence. But given We haven’t yet got round to archiving our cultural heritage and practices , the job I’ve given myself before creating anything new is understanding more and more of the archaic. You’ll be surprised by the extent of change our culture has undergone since the expansion of the exportation of finance capital by US, British, German banks (and other european states) at the turn of the 20th century. Within a hundred years we’ve gone from the nobility and virtue of unhu/ubuntu, struggle and ‘ancestral and spirit worship’  to the corruption of suits, dealing and eating? I guess the problem is down to our inability to-date to work collectively, like we used to before money carved us up. Anyway…we should talk about it as most things these days can easily be dismissed as opinion - all that is solid melts into air - this is how their thinkers describe the nature of these parts. And the Chinese ‘investments’ aren’t helping. They merely continue exactly were the US, Germans, French political manipulators etc and friends left off or are doing elsewhere under our noses through various political instruments(whichcraft! - the art of causing division via the introduction of choice - which one do I choose - the bullet or the cash - and whatever you choose will lead to your demise). I dreamt once I was at a ceremony at my father’s home and during it’s opening 3 chinese guests walked in with one wearing a Traditional chinese dress in the blue, red and white of the jack and the US flag - the colours of imperialism. Upon realising she backtracked and returned in a cream outfit carrying black pepper in a sleeve on her back.  I have no idea what that dream means but I am sure I’ll encounter its meaning soon. This is the nature of dreams. I stand to be corrected on this but based on today’s terms……until humanity rejects money, the idea of money and the various systems it imposes on our day to day….humanity shall find itself forever rebelling against the tyranny of greed and cast further and further adrift from true emancipation through Revolution. One shouldn’t just be a rebel….one should be a revolutionary and that can only start in the mind. I just find revolution and acceptance of the idea of money in whatever form completely incompatible and given I trained as an Architect for 7 whole years I should be more careful about what I say…..today, the only path to revolution is found in the footsteps of the rejection of money. In the struggle to create this path of course one will encounter difficulty…but what’s life without struggle.

So how are your films produced and which organisations do you work with to get them edited, promoted etc. I have a natural tendency to assume everything is naturally a collaborative process…..Is this how it generally works with the production of your films. And is equipment easily accessible these days….film, camera parts…software etc. I know expertise is something Zimbabwe has…unless this has changed. Are there opportunities there for young film makers to exhibit their films??????With Mbira…they say Mbira without a voice is like sadza without stew  so I’m perfecting my  singing and synchronising it with my playing. Difficult skill to master but once done…it’s done  it’s done….so at the moment I am more instrumental…..singing is dead easy as long as I not playing…..experience and a musically conducive environment are crucial to the Mbira learning process. And there is always something new to learn everyday. Pamberi neNgoma neHosho!

I’ve just been listening to the classic Leonard Musorowenyoka Dembo reading your script. Sounds like someone is in trouble…in the story I mean. Is the film an English, Shona, or Ndebele Film ngoba this side there is a dire dire situation as far as accessing our own films is concerned. It seems no-one bothers to make films in our languages anymore let alone publish books. It’s as if subtitling or translation does not exist. I feel this approach has led to the alienation and  exclusion of many of our relatives in the diaspora . Most Zim kids here are already losing their mother tongue. Zvekutoti nxa inzinto zingahamba kuhle ngiza kuyafunda wonke amazwi etu maybe eUZ or just gokumusha and live there for a few years documenting in everyway possible zvese zvichirikutaurwa neharahwa nechembere dzedu. We’ll see…we’ll see… Sometimes I think I have too many plans but at least I work on some of them and that one is destiny.

Mvura mvura naya…..

Anyway when I get your email add I’ll email you so I can send you a copy of a constitution for Rurimi Rwedu, an organisation I’m working on setting up with some brothers, to preserve African Spoken language……I guess you know already that english is not a language in the strictest sense…..it is a tool for communicating,  particularly matters of commercial sort—-hence it’s many shadows. It is possible to  sound polite and be completely utterly rude when one speaks in english - it’s called political correctness here.   Zulu, Tonga, Venda, Chivanhu etc….in these languages…. at least what you say is always compatible with what you mean and what you feel  -  culture lives through the language it uses…..it is the language which carries it’s messages…Ndebele culture without its language is not ndebele culture. So I am fussy about our languages because I know without them we will seize to be ourselves. Some will find it ironic I’m writing in english on this occasion….the reasons are obvious….pragmatically …few if any of the many who use the internet understand -kabazwisisi isiNdebele or chiVanhu. But next time, sizabona I might consider just writing in isiNdebele or chiVanhu.

Pass my regards to your family and friends.

Don’t we all seek what you so wish? Yes we do…life and love. What you need not do is be afraid so you can find. One clue to finding love lies in being ‘present’ so one can be able to ‘see’ the world ‘outside’ as a beautiful place. We are all human and sometimes we miscalculate and make mistakes but the old saying will have it that it’s better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all. Patience my dear and one day you will find what you seek for life you have and love you will one day find.

Yes, l’ve heard that the gardens can be preety small but for lazy people devine. It’s good you have your drawings and your music to keep you occupied.

That piece of land you dream of will be yours when you’re ready.

Andrew, My apologies for the silence, but I’m here now. Things are rather slow and zweshuwa, munhu ngaatsvagwe. Kuyajabulisa ukuthi ungidingile wangifica sengikhona. Are your mbira songs only instrumental or with lyrics? Would be interesting to listen to your music one day. The rains seem to be regular, which is a positive development for a good harvest.

Well, my life continues to inspire and empower me because when l look at myself today, l’m happy to realize that l am today the woman l’m becoming…me. It has never been easy for an african woman to see herself for who she is but what other people want her to be. How are you coping my dear and what do you miss the most about home?

You are my dear Sanyangore, a very wise old man. Now l do believe the existence of the fountain of youth. I remember the Dzefunde song but l didn’t quite understand it but now, l think l do. I can relate to your sadness in a very strange way probably because you and l are both ‘old’ people. We are old not by choice but by curcumstances that make both of us ‘see’ our ‘world’ differently than other people.

Don’t think for a moment that you’re ignorant because l believe that everything does happen for a reason and although you may not realize it now, in good time you will. This is where both our journeys begin, so we can both reason with our fate.

You say you were young and didn’t know better and l was young too and like you l didn’t have any other choice and was forced into exile but l came back to face the ghosts of my past. You were 18 and l was 13 but I’m still here and you are and so our jouney begins.

You are 2000 years old and Jerusalem you will take with you, if you’re patient. I know what l’m talking about because l’ve broken out of a prison after Dzefunde.And yes. continue with your meditation and live in the ‘now’ until you’re sure you can ‘see’ what lies ahead.

I can understand how you were guided to your mbira the same way l was to my writing. A real man is not a Dzefunde? No, but a real man would still want to protect his own.

The Gods are smiling and the rains have fallen. We are hoping for a good harvest again this year.

Thoko

Thoko,

Hey how are things. Ndinoziva wani kuti vakuru vakati munhu haatsvagwe…. so I’ll just write. Just got 2 new songs down today. That as well as critiquing an essay on ‘participatory video’ in a sea of mbira. How are the rains and life?

ak.

Thoko,

If you really sit back and think about it, it is coercion that puts me ‘here’, wherever ‘here’ is in the grand scheme of things. I often think about that old song ‘Dzepfunde’ - that old old old tale of spineless society willing to accept anything to please the so-called master, boss or whoever it is who decides they are the absolute authority. How did I end up here…? I blame it on spineless society - traitors of the revolution who took advantage of their first-born son in his ignorance and young age and encouraged him to waste his effort fighting for the whims of their stomachs. If I had been 2000 years old I would have taken Jerusalem with me like the first-born of Ethiopia during Solomon’s days - but I was only 18 and blind. But then again…Jerusalem does not deserve the prison of this miserable ease. The lyrics to ‘Dzepfunde go like this….

Vanasekuru Dzepfunde
Grandfather ‘Yes-please’
Mabvoronga nyika yeZimbabwe
You have spoiled the country of Zimbabwe
Zvese, zvese ‘dzepfunde
Everything, ‘Yes-please’
Imi ndimi vakuru vedu
You are our leaders
Hapana kana chamunoramba
There is nothing you refuse
Zvese, zvese, ‘dzepfunde’
Everything, ‘Yes-please’
Zvikanzi vana vawanda
You are told ‘Your children are enough’
‘Hongu mambo, dzepfunde’
‘Yes master, yes please’
Zvikanzi garai sembeva
You are told, live like mice
‘Hongu mambo, dzepfunde’
‘Yes master, yes please’
Zvikanzi garai senhika
You are told, live like nhika
‘Hongu mambo, dzepfunde’
‘Yes master, yes. please’
Zvikanzi mart muchaiwana
You are promised [more] money
‘Hongu mambo, dzepfunde’.
‘Yes master, yes please’.

Pamberi neChimurenga! Pasi nevapambi vepfumi! Pasi nanaDzepfunde.
So these days I meditate a lot…. to utilise in the now.. it is all I have… lest I be judged as one who failed to make the most of his breath and his hands…. steady plotting and dreaming of my bull and many cows….. The spoils of the revolution…or rather my overdue inheritance so I can sacrifice to my ancestors and ask them why they befriended my coercers (madhunamutuna) who now force their first born son to live like a mouse like them. Have you seen how small the gardens are here. Regai nditaure maivemwana ndapondewa. It is true all I wish for in life is love, a fertile piece of my mother earth, a black Ox, 50 cows and a cave to finally rest in, after all I’m an old man now. Oh and a cat…a brown one. I know drawing is the key. I’m still undecided on sculpture.. and writing..Idols, statues and books make me wonder sometimes….drawing flowers is harmless though. Planting them is much better.
But it seems all there is in life is war and prison…
But War never killed Chamberlain
War never killed Rhodes
War never killed Bush
War never killed Blair
War never killed Hitler
War never killed Ian Smith
War never killed JP Morgan
War never killed Rockefeller
War never killed Rothschild
War never killed Deutche Bank
War has left us with monsters and countless history books and has made sure to rob us of the righteous and selfless
It took away my Grandfather, I never met him
It took away my Grandmother, I will never see her
It took away my Uncle…I never saw his face
I miss my father
It stole many sisters - for what?
It imprisoned many brothers …. some will never be seen again.
It starved many children….. all for this miserable ease.
This ain’t living.

I guess that’s where my mbira comes in. One day I’ll tell my grandparents the story about how I was guided to it. One day I’ll tell my grandchildren. It keeps the white noise down…
With regard to your last question my mother is back home. My father bless him, is hopefully watching over me and his many children spread all over the globe like dice. He always said a real man is not a ‘Dzepfunde’, it has taken 1984 years to figure out what he mean’t. 1984 years.

We must continue to pray for the rain and a good harvest next season.

Sanyangore

Hey, Andy! So, you’re 2000 years old, huh? Mmm, me thinks l should get myself some of that youthful portion because l don’t for a moment like the wrinkly creases that are slowly reminding me of the years l’ve been here. If only l could look as good as you do when am 60!

Anyways, ngiyaphila and am happy to hear that urinani. I hope your shona is good enough to carry us both because mine is sort of…er…rusty.

You’re in the cold and l have the scorching african sun. There isn’t much rain this year compared to last year and Matebeleland has never boasted of abundant wetness. I hope you’ll still be able to achieve some satisfactory amount of work despite the unco-operative wheather. Tell me more about your mbira before we get to your ‘other things’.

Am currently working on the 6th draft of a movie script with the title, ‘What Lies Within’. It’s based on a true story so l’m constantly changing things and l think it gets better with every draft. I’ve done more background research which has somehow strengthened the backbone of the story.

Am curious to know how you ended up where you are at such a young…ooops…l mean…er….at such a youthful old age? Did you move with your parents or you’re the daring type that took a huge leap alone?

Thoko,

http://docs.google.com/View?id=df3gp4zn_0fq4858fh

Yilink ye-essay I’ve been working on. I’m still sharpening one or two arguments in there, as a result the word draft is still attached to it. Take a look at it if you get a minute.

Sanyangore

Thoko…
I like how you put it, ‘youth and experience’. Fortunately I drank from the great pool of youth and the truth is I’m 2000-years old at least. How are you. Mina ngiyaphila - Ini ndiri nani.I could have written yesterday but I did not have access yet. Currently I’m trying to expand my mbira repertoire amongst other things. Unfortunately the cold cold weather makes it impossible to do this outside.

Hope to hear from you soon

Sanyangore

Andrew…welcome to our creative process. Am thrilled to be your partner in this great project. Your youthfulness and my experience will sure bring an interesting dimension to our work. Thoko

Welcome to imagine art after! Thoko, Andrew, where are you now? What are you up to?