A short film on fatherhood, ‘Mukanya – Conversations with our Fathers’ premiered last Saturday at B2C Co-working space in Harare.
The film was inspired by the outcry from women who were raising children on their own as most fathers are absent emotionally and physically.
Six young United States’ exchange alumni fellows teamed up to produce the short film with funding from the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund from the Department of State.
The bioscope provokes dialogue and places focus on parenting in a space where culture is dynamic and perspectives on African fatherhood are changing.
Zimbo Jam spoke to the director, Sizakele Mukwedini soon after the launch and she said, “During our research, we realised that there was very little Zimbabwean content that dealt directly with encouraging positive fatherhood. We also needed something innovative and a short narrative would work best as our people have used the medium of storytelling from ages past to communicate with one another. We decided on a film that would be a conversation starter with our fathers hence the name of the project Conversations with Our Fathers. The film is titled Mukanya after the main character.”
As a collective Yvonne Jila, Sizwile Nyamande, Karen Mukwasi and Sizakele Mukwedini who are Mandela Washington Fellowship (YALI) fellows together with IVLP alumni Moses Semwayo and Thomas Sithole successfully applied for the US grant last year under the Creating Safe Spaces for Women and Girls Cluster with an idea to produce a film with a focus on fatherhood.
Mukwedini revealed that bigger plans are underway to develop the project into a full feature film.
Continued Mukwedini: “There are many conversations we need to have. It’s not just conversations with our fathers, but conversations we need to have as a people on issues that stifle our social development, all put into stories that make it easier for us to communicate with one another.
“The story of Mukanya is a journey and with a lot of help and issues raised and dealt with along the way, we can all learn a few things from it. And our fathers are not the target, we are just starting with them as the head of the homes.
“We will also deal with issues like matriarchal injustice, for instance, women to women abuse, drugs, and substance abuse, creating safe spaces for girls, women and children and many other issues that contribute to social cohesion.”
Following the premiere the team will commence community screenings aimed at using the film as a tool for engagement. This will be in collaboration with MenEngage Zimbabwe and other partners locally.
The film written by Ignatius Mabasa brings together a cocktail of amazing talent with theatre director Blessing Hungwe, Portia Chidavaenzi, Farai Kuzvidza, Rumbidzayi Muchenje, musician Josh Meck and Gregory Shambare playing roles. It also features heavyweights in the cast like Stephen Chigorimbo, Sharon Magi Chideu of Bustop TV, Stella January and Martin Mutamba who immensely added value to the film.
