Filmmaker Ben Mahaka, who has worked on productions like Studio 263, Gringo, and Battle of the Chefs took to Facebook recently to express his support for the NAMA adjudication process. Mahaka knows the inner workings of NAMA, having served on the adjudication committee for several years.

He was responding to complaints about the NAMA adjudication process from some filmmakers. There have been many other complaints about the awards, including from artist, Ammara Brown.

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Mahaka’s sentiments were met by a barrage of comments from irate artists, notably from Eddie Ndhlovu, producer of the soap opera Wenera. This looks to become an annual ceremony as the two were at it again last year, arguing over the NAMA awards. But this time it was no holds barred as expletives and insults flew across cyberspace. Here are some of the posts from that heated conversation:

Ben Mahaka

Right. Let’s talk about Zimbabwe’s National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA). I’m a filmmaker who was an adjudicator for a few years, so I will focus on film. This is how it works: Adjudicators get the submissions and the judging criteria towards the end of the year and they watch all the submissions as individuals during the Christmas break. They come together as a subcommittee and present their individual choices in the new year. There are often disagreements and sometimes heated arguments. When that happens, the committee always refers back to the set criteria. Individual adjudicators have to justify their shortlists. Some years it’s a straightforward process. There are some standout productions that just rise to the top and everyone agrees in the 1st meeting. The film subcommittee selection of nominees is then interrogated by the full adjudication panel. They have to justify their choices. Adjudicators cannot submit work during their tenure, so during the years I was an adjudicator I did not submit anything.

How are the adjudicators selected? I’m not sure, but I suspect its based on having consistently excelled and distinguished oneself in your field. Integrity is also important. You have to be able to objectively judge the work of people in your circle and then keep information about nominees and winners to yourself.

And then there’s the awards night and the now predictable outcry. Lately, it has turned into a naked attempt to delegitimise the NAMA awards and this movement has taken hold on social media. Having invested time and effort into the process, I am here to defend it and call out the naysayers in as open and transparent a way as I possibly can. My worry is that, if a lie is told enough times it becomes the truth.

In 2017 I was attacked by Eddie Ndhlovu, the producer of Wenera. He is attacking the NAMAs again this year. I respect Eddie greatly as a producer. There’s a certain abrasive quality that distinguishes almost all great producers and he possesses that in spades. He will be heard, he will be seen, he will prevail. The model that he came up with for Wenera, where his crew and cast camp at their principal location made his production process ultra-efficient. He managed to produce quality work with an impossible budget. Wenera brought viewers back to local television. That’s innovation. I admire his model so much I’m trying to mimic it for Gaza, the TV production that I’ll be working on in Chipinge.

However, Wenera has problems. If the storyline was about middle-class families it would be fine, but Wenera is about diamond moguls and the sets don’t say diamond wealth. Additionally, while the design is innovative, the directing is so-so. There are actors on Wenera who have excelled elsewhere who just come across tepid on Wenera. Those lacklustre performances can be blamed squarely on the director. So no matter how loudly and insistently Eddie Ndhovu tries to denigrate NAMA adjudicators, it does not change the fact that his directing of Wenera is not worthy of NAMA glory. It is a show that had potential that has stagnated while the competition has grown.

And finally, Wenera crew and cast have complained about not being paid while Eddie jet sets. They believe the money being squandered in taken from ZBC in their names and spent feeding Eddie’s ego. As an actor, I have experienced this and it’s demotivating.

Suggestion for Eddie: Let your baby grow by letting go a little. Get sharp, hungry directors, pay them well and allow yourself space to birth new productions. If the allegations about partying at the expense of crew are true, then just sit down and shut up because you’re stealing from artists. You can’t expect to win national awards against increasing stiff competition when you’re moving backwards.

On the issue of Rumbi Katedza and I being competition for Eddie, I can only speak for myself. I respectfully submit that Eddie and I are not in the same orbit. Eddie produces a struggling production on ZTV while I am an internationally recognized producer and director who has worked on broadcast projects all over the world. When you saw me on the red carpet at Cannes a couple of years ago, it was because I’m producing and shooting projects worthy of being invited to the Cannes Producers’ Network. So Mr Ndhlovu we are qualified to judge your work and to exclude it if in our considered opinion it doesn’t measure up. We are the gatekeepers. If that irks you, don’t submit yourself to the process.

At least Eddie actually has a recognized and followed TV program. The loudest group of protesters are what I will call People With Cameras. As an adjudicator, I have had to wade through hundreds of terrible videos that people have taken time to print onto DVDs and submit to the NAMAs in the belief that they actually stand a chance of winning. It’s these same delusional people who make up the bulk of protesters. Why did Shem Zemura win? NAMA adjudicators must’ve been bribed. The board needs to resign. No. Our media landscape is severely fragmented, so there’s no central place to see all the nominees and compare them. But ask some of the noisemakers to post their work online and let the public decide because – unfortunately – many do not understand just how bad their submissions are.

The formation of the Bulawayo Arts Awards proves my point. Compare the 2017 nominees and winners from the Bulawayo Arts Awards to the nominees and winners from the previous NAMA awards. See any similarities there? Are the nominees sleeping with adjudicators from both organisations?

A NAMA film adjudicator’s job is doubly difficult because our industry is still in development, so you will find a standout performance by an unknown actress like 2015 Best Actress award winner Bianca Mangwenzi in a not very well resolved film like Tariro. The normal inclination would be to throw the disc onto the “watched” pile after a few minutes of hunting focus and bad audio, but we owe it to the growth of the industry to watch to the end.

Then there’s the issue of having categories without winners; There are years during which the quality of submissions in some categories is so poor that the very best of them is not deserving of a national award. So do we endorse mediocrity? The NAMAs are a national competition. There are minimum standards that should be respected. Why have nominees without winners? It’s a balancing act – acknowledging effort without compromising standards.

The Zemura brothers announced their arrival with the film, My Lady. It had iffy audio in some places but it was clear that Nick Zemura could put a film together. They have since grown into a 3-pronged attack which by all indications is here to stay. There are other notable filmmakers I have been watching. Willard ‘Slimaz’ Makombedze is a storyteller. Beauty Nakai Tsuro has continued to mature and tell solid stories with strong female characters. Joseph Bunga has come out of nowhere to be one of the most visible producers around. I believe TM PicknPay Battle of the Chefs would’ve stood a decent chance of being nominated in the TV category had I not been an adjudicator. Joe Njagu has gone international. Charles Mawungwa startled every music video director with Huyai Tinamate. A multitude of actors out of Bulawayo’s film and theatre scene have continued to distinguish themselves on the national stage. Tinashe Mombeshora is quietly building an empire. Nqobizitha Mlilo. Derby Beta was a college intern at Area 46 two years ago and was a nominee in the short film category this year. Andy “Cutta” Sobhuza rocks.

You will probably keep seeing these names on local arts nomination lists and some will become ubiquitous on international awards lists as well because they make good films. I think Shem Zemura is an arrogant little shit, but that is neither here nor there. He makes good films and he deserves the recognition that he’s getting. There are people whom I love to bits and have been in the industry with me for over a decade, but that doesn’t justify them being included in the NAMAs. It doesn’t work on an My Turn basis. Look at industry awards the world over and you will see the very same trends. There are a few exceptional practitioners, followed by some very good ones and then a multitude of journeymen and then all those people with cameras. I make no apologies about doggedly recognising filmmakers who excel. Repeatedly.

Onwell Ozzy Chapwanya 

Not a worthy read at all especially if it’s coming from that guy. What were they doing vakaisa kaCamera 1 mukaroom on Gringo Troublemaker?? That production was shitty and these are the people who talk too much. There are people like that Naidoo guy, those are people we should benchmark our productions with because they are the good ones not anaBen Mahaka.

Tatenda Frank Chirunga 

Eddie Ndhlovu listen to this coming from a guy who did that shitty Gringo movie. One camera the entire scene yemu room ma Gringo. He let Enock Chihombori down on that one. Hahaha, dnt be moved, my guy. Bhora mberi.

Eddie Ndhlovu 

I am fucken so tired with people like Ben Mahakawho think they run this town. What have you done Ben that can be celebrated today besides being an actor in studio 263? What do people know you for besides studio actor? We argued about the 2017 NAMAs last year and that was it. Why are you attacking me? You won an award this year at NAMA (that was obvious) did I say anything about it? You spoke greatly about Wenera on the December ZFIDP’s meeting at ZIFF. Why do you say whatever you want to say in my face? No one talks about your pathetic directing on Gringo and moreover you fucked up Joe’s Bitter Pill. You are not a Director or even an actor my brother. I am surprised you know that we produce Wenera on a shoestring budget but you go ahead to say I rip actors [off]. Really? Do you understand our model? Why has our model worked? Why is the show the biggest on TV? Can a pathetic show make it that big? Am I the only one who had a problem with the NAMAs this year? Who do you directly attack me only? This shows you are a coward. Going to Cannes, you think you have made it big? I am not a donor baby my friend. I am an independent filmmaker my brother. This is just the beginning of a new dimension in film. Gone are the days ema film communities. I won’t sit and watch whilst people like you look down upon others and think ndimi muneyese.

Ben Mahaka 

I said good things about Wenera at ZFID because I believe them wholeheartedly. Wenera deserves to succeed. It deserves to grow. It deserves to thrive. That is different from attacking people because you fail to win against better competitors. I never won any NAMAs for Studio 263, but I didn’t go around attacking people. If you feel justified to call me corrupt, I’m justified to point out where you are wrong. Maybe you should address the issues I brought up instead of just trying to insult us. And if Joe Njagu has issues with me he would address them to me bro. We are tight like that.

Ben Mahaka 

Blaz budai mundege mubhadare vashandi!

Ben Mahaka 

Bitter Pill won awards for BEST DIRECTING and BEST EDITING at the Zimbabwe Film and Television Awards. Ende kwanga kusina ma NAMA adjudicators  ?

Eddie Ndhlovu

I think Regai ndinyarare hangu.

Eddie Ndhlovu

After all this is said and done it’s business at the end of the day. I learn a lot from critics coz we do need them to construct and mould and also understand to face our weaknesses. I have picked a few things from your comments that I will implement. You said your peace of mind which I did also. I am a gentleman enough to say at the end of the day we need each other today or tomorrow. I will definitely work with you Mkoma Ben Mahaka if I have the chance to do so.

Efie Dangarembwa 

‘How are the adjudicators selected? I’m not sure, but I suspect it’s based on having consistently excelled and distinguished oneself in your field. Integrity is also important. You have to be able to objectively judge the work of people in your circle and then keep information about nominees and winners to yourself.’ Well no wonder I was never an adjudicator – or might there have been other reasons?

Efie Dangarembwa 

Ben, I have had people apologise to me for their decisions. I understand your wish to defend NAMA, but it is also good to listen to what critics say. I haven’t seen Wenera, so I can’t comment on your analysis. I am responding in a general manner. The problem with NAMA is that it is parochial and does not set a high enough standard. I have recommended that they have some international adjudicators as well as the Zimbabwean ones in order to open up the process a bit.Your reply here…

Nico Abote 

Interesting this is… the World is for us to take cdes, don’t allow anyone to define your ‘world’ for you, and excellence comes with adding to your 10000hrs! #respect1

Elton Mjanana 

I like this. This is very healthy