Sometime this month, what may be Zimbabwe’s first feature length action crime drama, titled The Gentleman, will be launched. As the credits reel at the end of the film they will not tell the true story of generous contributions behind the making of this film. That story is a heart-warming example of what we can do together as Zimbabweans when we pull together…
Left: Sylvia Chimhina and scenes from the film she helped make possible.
A notable contribution came from The Gentleman’s Executive Producer and former runner up to Miss Zimbabwe USA 2005 Silvia Chimhina (30) who is based in Florida, USA. She raised a whopping US$25 000 as her contribution to speed up the assemblage of the movie.
Chimhina has a mix of accolades under her belt, from Miss Personality Zimbabwe 2005 to Miss Africa USA Spokes Model 2006 among many others. She trained models and owned Miss Petite Connecticut Pageant system for several years and is a guest talk show host on SARFM radio.com.
Zimbo Jam caught up with the Samuel Goldwyn inspired producer of the film, Rufaro Kaseke, who said of Chimhina, “She is part of this project and for this project to be where it is right now it’s because of her.”
Chimhina said, “I believe God makes all things beautiful in his time, so he brought us all together at the right time.”
Kaseke hailed the former model citing that the contribution she had made was a one of a kind input he and his team had never experienced since they started film as a profession.
“No one has ever done this for us; she has been instrumental in the dream becoming a reality. We don’t take that lightly,” he said.
Kaseke was quick to add that Chimhina was not the only Zimbo who came in with support. He pointed out Authur Gwaku, who temporarily moved out of his Sunridge house and lived in a local hotel for almost a week in order to pave the way for the filming of The Gentleman.
“After we thought we were done with the shooting at his house, we realised there was something amiss and we had to go back to do the filming for that. He moved out again and allowed us to perfect the scenes,” added Rufaro.
“Imagine, Authur had to move into a hotel and we had to change the setup of the interior of his house to one that suited our footage. This was awesome,” he said. Gwaku did not charge for the use of his house.
Writer and director of the film, Joe Njagu, echoed the same sentiments, saying that the administration at Saint Anne’s Hospital and Libby’s’ Restaurant went out of their way for the sake of shooting the film. “People from Saint Anne’s Hospital shut down part of their facility and Libby’s Restaurant at Newlands Shopping Centre stopped their business so that we could do our filming.”
The project also received the blessings of Mamsa for Man, a clothing company. They offered 30 state of the art suits at no cost, which were used by actors in this movie that is characterised by corruption, love, deception, social and moral degradation.
The crew hailed the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe for assisting with the clearance of Presley Chweneyagae in Zimbabwe for the shooting of the film.
Kaseke and Gwaku were also accompanied by co-producer of the film Batsirai Masvinge who added that it was not an easy move to bring in prominent people like Phillip Chiyangwa who have important commitments on a daily basis in his businesses.
“It’s not any easy task to rope in people like Chiyangwa who is always busy. It’s so amazing having him in this movie. He is a very busy man but he sacrificed his time by taking part in this film,” said Batsirai.
In the past many productions have failed to take off due to lack of support. Today, the various contributions to the production of The Gentleman are a testimony of the possibilities in the arts industry in Zimbabwe and how it can flourish if fellow Zimbabweans assist and support each other.
From Zimbo Jam by Anozivashe Shumba
Left: Sylvia Chimhina and scenes from the film she helped make possible.A notable contribution came from The Gentleman’s Executive Producer and former runner up to Miss Zimbabwe USA 2005 Silvia Chimhina (30) who is based in Florida, USA. She raised a whopping US$25 000 as her contribution to speed up the assemblage of the movie.
Chimhina has a mix of accolades under her belt, from Miss Personality Zimbabwe 2005 to Miss Africa USA Spokes Model 2006 among many others. She trained models and owned Miss Petite Connecticut Pageant system for several years and is a guest talk show host on SARFM radio.com.
Zimbo Jam caught up with the Samuel Goldwyn inspired producer of the film, Rufaro Kaseke, who said of Chimhina, “She is part of this project and for this project to be where it is right now it’s because of her.”
Chimhina said, “I believe God makes all things beautiful in his time, so he brought us all together at the right time.”
Kaseke hailed the former model citing that the contribution she had made was a one of a kind input he and his team had never experienced since they started film as a profession.
“No one has ever done this for us; she has been instrumental in the dream becoming a reality. We don’t take that lightly,” he said.
Kaseke was quick to add that Chimhina was not the only Zimbo who came in with support. He pointed out Authur Gwaku, who temporarily moved out of his Sunridge house and lived in a local hotel for almost a week in order to pave the way for the filming of The Gentleman.
“After we thought we were done with the shooting at his house, we realised there was something amiss and we had to go back to do the filming for that. He moved out again and allowed us to perfect the scenes,” added Rufaro.
“Imagine, Authur had to move into a hotel and we had to change the setup of the interior of his house to one that suited our footage. This was awesome,” he said. Gwaku did not charge for the use of his house.
Writer and director of the film, Joe Njagu, echoed the same sentiments, saying that the administration at Saint Anne’s Hospital and Libby’s’ Restaurant went out of their way for the sake of shooting the film. “People from Saint Anne’s Hospital shut down part of their facility and Libby’s Restaurant at Newlands Shopping Centre stopped their business so that we could do our filming.”
The project also received the blessings of Mamsa for Man, a clothing company. They offered 30 state of the art suits at no cost, which were used by actors in this movie that is characterised by corruption, love, deception, social and moral degradation.
The crew hailed the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe for assisting with the clearance of Presley Chweneyagae in Zimbabwe for the shooting of the film.
Kaseke and Gwaku were also accompanied by co-producer of the film Batsirai Masvinge who added that it was not an easy move to bring in prominent people like Phillip Chiyangwa who have important commitments on a daily basis in his businesses.
“It’s not any easy task to rope in people like Chiyangwa who is always busy. It’s so amazing having him in this movie. He is a very busy man but he sacrificed his time by taking part in this film,” said Batsirai.
In the past many productions have failed to take off due to lack of support. Today, the various contributions to the production of The Gentleman are a testimony of the possibilities in the arts industry in Zimbabwe and how it can flourish if fellow Zimbabweans assist and support each other.
From Zimbo Jam by Anozivashe Shumba
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