Shungu, a film by renowned Zimbabwean graphic artist, Saki Mafundikwa, has won the Sembène Ousmane Award at the recently ended Zanzibar International Film Festival.

Shungu is Saki’s first film. It is an awe-inspiring directorial debut, produced by his wife Karen, that tells the story of the strategies ordinary people used in order to survive in Zimbabwe during the harsh economic years immediately prior to dollarisaton in 2009.

The award was presented at a beautiful Awards Night ceremony on July 17, 2010 in Stone Town, Zanzibar. The 1st mention for the award went to The Gardener and his 21 Flowers by Emil Lamgballe and Maria Samota le Dous. 2nd mention went to Ndoto Za Elibidi.

The award is named after Ousmane Sembène (January 1, 1923 — June 9, 2007), often referred to in the French style as Sembène Ousmane. He was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and has often been called the Father of African film.

Shungu brings out the never-say-die attitude of the Zimbabwean people. According to the Saki, the film takes us on a personal journey offering a rare, intimate insight as the country experiences political turmoil, economic meltdown and health care collapse.

^ Karen and Saki Mafundikwa pictured at the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA) 2009 graduation ceremony.

We are drawn into the lives of a 30-something metalsmith and opposition supporter running his small business while facing political violence, a middle-aged widow who is a staunch government supporter trying to run a farm she took over from a white farmer, a doctor working amid health care collapse while trying to maintain her middle-class lifestyle.

Interwoven throughout is the tumultuous political power struggle and eventual reconciliation between President Robert Mugabe, and his nemesis opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The film gives voice to the hopes and challenges of ordinary people, as Zimbabwe undergoes profound change.

Before its Zanzibar premier, Shungu made it to the Official Selection of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in Greece, March 2009. Later that same year it was in the Official Selection for the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands held in November 2009.

It has been screened in several countries already and will make its Zimbabwean premier in the near future.

^ An elderly woman picks maize from the ground, one grain at a time, in a scene from Shungu.

Saki was educated in the USA with a BA in Telecommunications and Fine Arts from Indiana University and an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University. He worked for a dozen years in New York City as a graphic designer, art director, and design teacher before returning home in 1998.

In 1999 Saki gave back to his country by starting up the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA). ZIVA has since then become Zimbabwe’s leading training institution for graphic designers providing skilled employees for the design and advertising industry.

He is back in the United States now, where he teaches design.

- The Zimbo Jam

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Tinashe   |2010-07-31 10:09:15 Way yo go Mr Mafundikwa! I think you are doing a great job with ZIVA and this win is the icing on the cake. If Zimbabweans were aware of what you were doing and its impact you would have received many awards for the work that this school is producing. Reply 0   0

Saki Mafundikwa  - Prof.   |2010-08-02 04:57:54 Thank you Fungai for the post and accolades, just want to point out that I am actually in Zim teaching at ZIVA and working on my next film: Basilwizi: The people of the Great River" which is about the Tonga people and the harsh reality of their lives 52 years after their displacement from their homes along the Zambezi River to make way for the Kariba Dam hydro electricity project which has never benefited them in any way. Reply 0   0

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