I love ZBC

I love ZBC! I seem to be laughing all the time when I am watching our only Zimbabwean television station. So I was really bored on a Sunday afternoon ...and evening and I decided to tune into it. The calibre of movies that they are showing is just insulting I tell you. But what amazes me is the talent that this country has. I have been attending the Zim Images Film festival for the past few years and the type of short films being produced by our very own is amazing and of international standard. Why are these films not being screened on our own station? I don’t expect something dramatic like Avatar or something but let me use Mai Chisamba as an example. That talk show has gained so much popularity simply because she has taken everyday issues and has provided an open forum to discuss them and even better, they are in our local language, Shona. There is nothing fancy about the types of cameras used for that show, I mean we can’t really compare that to Oprah or even S.A’s “Lets Chat with Mel”, but she has got the idea, she has managed to captivate Zimbabwean aspects and has made a successful talk show out of it, never mind the quality. I remember the other day there was a kid’s show which was meant to be teaching children how to swim. Can you believe that they showed uncoordinated swimmers from Borrowdale Primary school swimming for a whole 45 minutes? The camera was in the same position the whole time and the most effort they made was zooming. There was absolutely no commentary at all, just children doing crawl, backstroke, butterfly and breast stroke repeatedly! Imagine that for the only TV station in a developing country! I happened to come across our very own studio 263 on Africa Magic the other day and I imagined what other countries would say about Zimbabwean film after such a production. We have to give them credit they have made an effort to capture Zimbabwe’s current lifestyle, but Zim acting is a bit too exaggerated and does not seem natural. There has to be a difference between theatre and film. But how come we were able to do it when we did Neria and Everyone’s Child which were brilliant local movies. I do understand that they were funded, but the acting in those films seemed more natural and the concepts authentically Zimbabwean!
And then we move on to music videos! AMAIHWEE! What is happening to the creativity in this country, or rather, how come those that really know how to make good videos are not doing them for our local consumption? Is it budget constraints? But surely we can make a plan with what we have. I honestly think that our local station is not a reflection of the type of talent that we have in this country and I guess platforms like ZBC have not given the artists an incentive for them to want to be on that station. I know a couple of guys who do filming in this country and they are doing brilliant productions, so the talent and expertise and the equipment is there. If I had a music video, I would gladly give it to Channel O any day and even pay them flight it if I have to, because they have branded themselves well and have a wider outreach. I guess there are also many legal reasons that prohibit our local TV and radio stations from such expansion, but surely they can do something for the locals. There was a time when we could do without DSTV or SABC and enjoy the best films on our local station ZBC. And even the local productions themselves like Mukadota and Paraffin reflected authentic Zimbabwean scenarios, not the best of quality, but it kept us so entertained! Can someone really explain to me why we cannot go back to that, and even get better? And with the high costs of advertising on the stations, surely something should be done to improve the quality of films being shown.
Okay, now I have to go and watch Prime Gospel Show and enjoy the local music videos! Yoh!