Cinema Nomad

[Stephanies narration] Flying into Zimbabwe, looking out of the plane window into the vastness of the sky, I had no idea what to expect from a trip to Zimbabwe.

All I knew is that it was a former British colony, there was a land redistribution program that turned bloody, and the president who liberated Zimbabwe was now dead.

Earlier in the week, former President Robert Mugabe, who ruled over Zimbabwe for 37 years, had died.

Mugabe's funeral had not yet taken place.

Dignitaries from all over Africa were arriving at the same time we were flying in for Cinema Nomad.

Steadees Back In The Groove theme song plays Hi, I'm Stephanie the Cinema Nomad.

Join me on brand new adventures.

The world is a wonderful place where people overcome incredible odds to make their mark.

We'll meet filmmakers who are as courageous as they are inspiring.

Cinema Nomad connects across cultures: to learn, explore, share, and carry on a heritage of cinematic storytelling.

[in Shona] Upon arrival, Charles, whom I had never met before, was waiting for me at the airport.

He had a smiling face and greeted me as if we were old friends.

Little did I know that we would become great friends.

As we drove into Harare, I saw the fuel lines.

And when we arrived to Charles's home, where Id be staying with his wife Thandie and their then 2-year old son Jona, I learned that Id be living in the dark.

You see, for the past few weeks Zimbabwe had not had much electricity at all.

From approximately 4 a.m.

to 10 p.m.

daily, the government shut off the electricity.

This led to the first of many questions I'd have on my Zimbabwe journey: How does one make a film without electricity?

upbeat, energetic music [Jona giggles] [Jona] So cute.

When I arrived in Harare, I learned that Charles works in tandem with his wife, Thandiwe, who is an accomplished playwright.

She had recently participated in a prestigious workshop in Ojai, California.

They operate as a two person crew.

While Thandie usually produces and writes, Charles directs, operates the camera, and edits their work.

They are a dream team.

Their bread and butter is documentaries that they direct and produce for for various United Nations organizations, such as USAID and other NGOs.

They produce approximately ten such films a year, and Charles has made over 150 short documentaries for the United Nations.

While we were in Harare, Charles and Thandie filmed an interview with a high ranking diplomat to the European Union to close out a long form documentary they'd been filming.

They also produce their own narrative films.

Their ten year plan is to have their own film studio up and running in Zimbabwe, and I am rooting for them.

Is this on me?

{in background} OK... Rolling... So, built from scratch, when we started ReelNet multimedia in 2007... we would walk for long distances because we had no money for bus fare.

Even when we started shooting our very first film, and we'd get the actors together and we would walk, but would make sure the actors dont know that we walked to the place.

We would walk like 10km or 15km, and then after everyone is gone, wed walk back home.

And then after that, things started to get better.

Personally, I was more interested in learning and becoming better at my work rather than making a quick buck.

I felt like, if you, in this kind of industry, if you know what you're doing, the money will follow you, because people want the best, right?

And so if you can provide the best, you are increasing your value.

[Stephanies narration] Harare and Zimbabwe were both easier and more difficult than I expected.

I had it easy, because I was completely taken care of by Charles and Thandie.

They are incredible hosts.

It was difficult though, in addition to those daily 18 hour electricity cut offs due to the restrictions on how much we could film.

Because of the politically sensitive time I arrived, it wasn't advisable to film too much out and about in Harare.

Additionally, there was a major drought and a lack of fuel.

Drivers had to wait for hours and queues at the gas station to fill up their cars, sometimes overnight.

And perhaps the biggest challenge was that just prior to my visit, the government changed the currency with no warning to its citizens.

The US dollar was outlawed, which for the past decade had been the main currency being used.

And the new Zim dollar was declared the currency, but they had yet to print enough of it.

Instead, they were using temporary bond notes, which were limited in supply.

The process of changing money was really complicated and the currency was losing value every day.

People only dealt with money in the moment, because there was no other way, and it always risked losing too much.

With a population of approximately 17 million, Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique.

The landscape is covered with Precambrian rock, mostly granite Somewhere between 570 million and 4 billion-years-old.

Hills are formed, known as balancing rocks, which creates a unique scene to gaze at.

Much of Zim is savanna or tropical grasslands.

And the country is home to some of the densest wildlife concentrations in Africa.

Charles once asked, Why do travelers only think to go to Botswana or South Africa for safari, when Zimbabwe has some of the best animal sightings of the world? He's filmed many a wildlife encounter for the documentaries he makes for various conservation and education initiatives.

local drumming and singing So in 2025, I returned to Zimbabwe with my almost 80-year-old mother, Linda, to take her on her first safari, and she absolutely loved it.

Charles was right.

When people think of Zimbabwe, often the first thing to come to mind is Victoria Falls, or The Smoke That Thunders, one of the largest waterfalls in the world and one of seven natural wonders.

Nearby is the massive Hwange National Park, where lucky ones can spot the Big Five; and the lesser known Mana Pools, where I took my mother, who even got to have lunch with elephants.

And got up close and personal with a pack of lions.

She especially loved the males.

The mighty Zambezi River flows through Zimbabwe along with the Limpopo and the Kariba Dam, generates hydroelectricity from the man-made Lake Kariba, the world's largest artificial lake by volume.

Zimbabwe has some of the highest literacy rates in all of Africa.

Historically, this has been an agricultural country, once the breadbasket of Southern Africa.

One-fifth of the country is used to farm maize and tobacco and raise livestock.

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages.

Though English is the language of business, around two-thirds of the population speaks Shona as a first language and one-sixth speak Ndebele, both derived from the Bantu language group.

[Stephanie] I'm curious what your meet cute was?

So it was on the 22nd, I've got most of the dates!

He was working with a lady called Dorothy and they were doing a documentary on amplifying women's voices, so they needed a writer.

So in writing, I was working closely with Charles as the editor.

So like we worked closely.

And then the more you work together, the more we started spending time together.

And, you know, like, oh, we've got the same the same vision, the same principle.

We like the same things.

We thought the same way.

[Thandie] Basically, we're one person.

When we met, it almost felt like we had known each other our whole lives.

And it was weird that we had never met because the people she her friends she had worked with, they were also my friends.

They were people that I had grown up with.

We started dating in February and then after like two or three weeks, we were like well, this feels right.

You know, there's no need to wait, and like date for 4 or 5 years, or whatever.

So then we got married in April.

[Stephanies narration] The capital city of Harare has a population around 2.2 million.

Originally, the area was Shona territory under Chief Gutsa.

At this time, Zimbabwe was a collection of kingdoms and various regions.

In 1890, Cecil Rhodes, a British mining-magnate-turned Southern African politician, arrived with a private army and established Fort Salisbury.

And by 1897, the city of Salisbury officially became Rhodesia's capital.

But in 1896, a Shona uprising against the Rhodesians occurred and became known as the First Chimurenga.

Salisbury remained the capital through 100 years of changes, and in 1980, after years of race and class struggles, warfare and revolution, Zimbabwe gained its full independence.

Before arriving in Zimbabwe, one message I received was from Kudzai Musungo, an accomplished actress.

She was a production manager of a popular long running television show, Muzita Rababa, where she plays the lead female.

We started in 2016, doing Muzita Rababa and it's been great.

Somewhere somehow its relating to someone in the society.

You somehow you have to overcome something in that script.

And then if it touches the other person, then they think, well, this is kind of my story.

How did she overcome this?

And then maybe it's just going to change someone's life.

Kudzai asked if I would be willing to direct a short film she wrote, For His Riches. I was excited about this opportunity as it fits right into the spirit of Cinema Nomads cross-cultural collaborations.

I read the script, which I liked, but I also knew it would be challenging to direct a film on top of a Cinema Nomad episode in the short amount of time we had together.

Nevertheless, I was determined to do the best job possible and help bring Kudzais screenplay to life.

I just looked at my environment and what is happening to women and the reasons why we want to stay in an abusive marriage.

[film clip in Shona] In this case, this script is more of a young lady who is married to a guy who's rich, you know, in a high office.

She doesn't want to accept that she's in an abusive relationship a marriage.

But she keeps her focus on what she's going to benefit after.

So in this case, she's just hoping to... to get everything that belongs to this man after he dies.

Well he doesn't die, naturally, she kills him.

And I don't know what's going to happen next.

How did you do this?

It doesnt matter how I did it.

Civilization in Zimbabwe goes as far back as the Stone Age, and it is believed that the original inhabitants were the hunter-gatherer San people.

The San were ultimately driven into the desert by the southern migration of Bantu speaking groups.

The first Bantu are thought to have arrived between the 5th and 10th centuries C.E.

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was one of the first major Shona states to appear in the region.

After the decline of Mapungubwe, there was an even greater Great Shona state that emerged to the north: that of Great Zimbabwe, an advanced civilization which lasted from around the 11th to 15th centuries.

A second movement of Bantu peoples arrived around 1830.

This time coming from the south, fleeing the Zulu chief Shaka, bringing a Ndebele population who carved out their own kingdom In 2025, Charles and Thandie invited me to visit them again in Zimbabwe, partly because they wanted me to see more of the country and their rich cultural heritage than we were able to experience in 2019.

One of the most important places they wanted to show me was Great Zimbabwe.

The archeological ruins of the ancient Shona capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe.

With its impressive stone structures that still remain.

Between the 11th and 15th centuries, there was an estimated population of 11,000 to 20,000 inhabitants at its height.

This empire's influence spread into Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa.

Great Zimbabwe was a powerful trading empire that specialized in gold and ivory.

The site, which lies 19 miles south of present day Masvingo, is split between the Hill Complex, the Valley Ruins, and the celebrated Great Enclosure: the largest single ancient stone structure in sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to Great Zimbabwe, there are hundreds of ancient stone ruins scattered around Zimbabwe.

Charles, Thandie and I explored the site of Tsindi Ruins.

It was a peaceful stroll in nature, located near Marondera, in the region of Mashonaland East.

[Stephanie] You told me a story the other night, where you were telling her right after you met a story that you wrote.

What happened was I did Mind Games, so Mind Games I made it as a short film in 2009.

So when I met her, I showed her the short film.

I was like, oh yeah, here's my short film.

You know, it's won these awards.

And sure, so when she watched it she was like, oh wow! Its exactly like my script for my play called 33 Cents that she had written.

So I was like, okay.

So she gave me the play and when I read it, it was exactly the play version of the short film, the style, the way the characters and you just followed the same path.

We wrote the same way, even the same dialogue in certain parts of the scene.

So that was interesting.

You work together now pretty exclusively.

Youre a team in everything you do.

Is that right?

[Charles] Yes, exactly.

[Stephanie] So how does that work?

Sometimes I'll write, and then he will direct and I'll produce.

Sometimes he will write and direct, and well produce together.

And then some of the scripts will write them together.

We pretty much are very flexible in how we work depending on the project.

She is much, much better at, you know, developing characters and working on dialogue.

And I tend to be stronger in terms of plot, like creating overall plot lines.

[Stephanies narration] For His Riches is a woman-driven film written by Kudzai Musungo in the Shona language, and directed by yours truly, Stephanie Gardner.

I was honored to direct this talented and expressive Zimbabwean cast and crew on a story about power struggles, class struggles sexism, and domestic violence.

[film clip in Shona] Despite the heavy themes, this is an entertaining film, if I do say so myself.

Part mystery, part thriller, part drama.

Alfred Hitchcock meets the French New Wave with a hint of Get Out. Nyarai, played by Kudzai, is the young, beautiful wife of a powerful businessman whose one desire is for her to sire him an heir.

He brutally beats her over and over and over again.

Yet she stays.

Meanwhile, passions overcome sensibilities and Nyarai rekindles a lost love whose one goal is to keep her safe.

Nyarai ends up plotting the husband's murder, and she enlists Adam, her lover, to help her clean up the mess.

While directing this film, I wanted to find creative ways to challenge the cast and crew.

Many of them students, interns, and budding filmmakers.

So when crafting how to shoot the film, we decided not to show the husband's face.

We did not want to give the abusive character that dignity.

Rather, we hear the haunting repetition of his footsteps as he comes to and from work.

We see his hands as he mixes a fertility powder as he cuts his food, and as he prepares to hurt his wife.

The one and only time we do see his face is after he's dead.

And the question lingers, will Nyarai get away with the murder?

Shooting For His Riches was always a race against the clock.

With no electricity and no budget, we could only film as long as the batteries didn't run out, or until the SIM cards were full.

This production team had some of the biggest grit and creative spirit I've ever seen, and it was inspiring to work with the Zimbabwean cast and crew who overcame all odds and challenges with ease.

I am so proud of this film.

sings in Shona [Stephanies narration] In 1889, Cecil Rhodes, a British vicars son-turned South African mining-magnate, formed the British South Africa Company.

He recruited settlers to colonize the region, to promote trade and commerce and to secure all mineral rights.

From 1890 on, new arrivals settled in what is present day Harare.

The Ndebele King, Lobengula, was tricked into signing the Rudd Concession, granting all mining rights to Cecil Rhodes representatives.

The Ndebele fought back, but were defeated in the First Ndebele War.

The Company took over control of Matabeleland.

The territories were renamed Rhodesia.

In 1939, the British set up a branch of their Colonial Film Unit, directed by the Ministry of Information, initially to explain WWII to British subjects in the colonies and enlist support.

After the war, the goal of the film unit shifted to enhance development in the colonies, and especially put an emphasis on so-called adult education. This was done under the label of the Central African Film Unit.

One goal was to promote white immigration, and to quote, maintain white standards and privileges while promoting limited African development. To make educational films that were presented in an an entertaining way with strong moral messages. Some of these were agricultural films, or highlighted community leaders such as The Wives Of Nendi. This is a true story about Mai Mangwende, the wife of Chief Mangwende of Southern Rhodesia, and the African women's clubs she founded all over the Mangwende reserve.

[Charles] I like writing psychological thrillers, so it doesnt matter where it's going to go, but it's gotta be psychological, and it's going to be thrilling.

I think that's it at some point.

And she writes thrillers, but hers are more political thriller So when we come together, we write psychological political thrillers.

I think both of us, our films are also very dark, but they have they also have positive endings.

[Thandie] Going to the dark side, its... there's a part of humanity that we don't want to see.

And I like to bring out that everybody given the right circumstances, the right situation... you are capable of being dark.

[Charles] Because I feel like our stories are like particulary they are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

I think that's what, maybe, our main stories are about.

We like our heroes to be ordinary people.

But the villains tend to be extraordinary people.

So, which means that it's very unfair on your protagonist.

But when they overcome, you are happy, and you know, youve gone through this journey for them.

Who knows?

Maybe we've been shaped by the things that have happened in Zimbabawe, who knows what is shaping our psyche as we are writing these stories.

But I think, that is something that was similar in our writing.

And we had people that were in these grave and extreme circumstances, and having to find ways to get out and to overcome.

The reason why I became a filmmaker was, the first film I watched in a cinema was The Matrix. [Charles chuckles] By the way.

And, when I watched the film, I forgot everything, and I was in this other world.

And when I came out, I came out feeling like I was super human.

And I felt like, you know, if we can make films that make people smile, at the end of the day... I feel you come out feeling like life is possible.

And I believe this is my motto: life is possible.

So I will present you with impossible circumstances, but you come out feeling that life is possible.

I can do anything.

I can, I don't know, whatever your dream is, whatever you want to do, you can do it.

I want to inspire people to say whatever circumstances you're in you can get out.

I think that's been something that's been shaping us as filmmakers here.

[Stephanies narration] In 2019, Charles and Thandie lived directly across from a wildlife preserve.

We visited this park with their young son, Jona, who was two at the time.

For an urban park, we saw far more animals than I expected.

All gathered around a watering hole.

Including giraffes, zebras, and impala.

Charles and I went on a horseback safari.

This was a highlight of my trip.

To my surprise and delight, it was Charles's first time on a horse.

He looked like a natural!

Because the zebras and other animals recognize horses as safe and they cant tell the difference between a horse with a human or without, we were able to get very close to the animals without spooking them.

We rode right up to the zebras.

So close I could have reached out and petted them!

Zebras are such gorgeous creatures.

[exchange of goodbyes in Shona] [V.O.

from Mind Games] You are a success.

You can do anything you set your mind to.

I can do anything I set my mind to.

Today you will make an impact in the world.

Today I'm going to impact the world.

Written and directed by Charles Mawungwa, and co-produced with Thandiwe Mawungwa, the multi-award winning feature film, Mind Games set in modern day Zimbabwe is a psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

There is an annual serial murderer known as the Candlelight Killer who randomly murders a new victim every July 3rd.

This year, the killer goes after Sam and his daughter, taking them hostage, and forcing Sam into a game of psychological wits, bringing up past traumas that Sam must overcome in order to save his daughter.

[character in film clip] Let her go!

Please, man, just let my daughter go.

Please.

Please.

Oh, I almost shed a tear there.

That was very good.

Very good, Sammy.

Very good performance.

Oscar worthy.

The idea behind Mind Games was to see if we can make films with very low budget, but that come out at at least a standard that's good enough to take to different places.

We used the things that we felt an ordinary Zimbabwean who is starting up, can have.

We were using mostly natural light, so I wanted to see if we can work on a system and what we can be able to achieve using that.

And the idea behind the film was like, we weren't even trying to be too serious.

We were trying to make something that's entertaining.

And something, a storyline that maybe they're not used to watching from the common, other Zimbabwean, and African so-called stories.

[audio from film clip: villians voice on telephone] Tick tock, tick tock.

Ka-boom!

[evil laughter] Who the hell are you?

From Mind Games our next feature we're going to put in a little bit more money than we put into Mind Games.

To create systems that films can be made under, you need to be willing to sacrifice some money.

And saying, we don't really have access to funding, we can spend time crying, or we can just say, how much money can I make? And what can I do with the money that I have? But the idea is: be creative and tell a story thats good and entertaining, and yet, does not require unnecessary characters, and does not require the use of too many locations that you cant get.

[Jona] Hiya zebra!

[Stephanies narration] In 1923, Southern Rhodesia was annexed and became a self-governing colony.

Lord Malvern was Prime Minister for 20 years.

There was a prosperous economy based on copper, gold, maize, tobacco and cattle.

But freedoms for African citizens were extremely limited.

For instance, in 1930 the Land Apportionment Act restricted where Africans could buy land.

There was systematic segregation, exclusion from politics, inequality in terms of healthcare, education and jobs, restrictions on freedom of movement, and more.

In 1964, Northern Rhodesia was annexed and became Zambia, so Southern Rhodesia became simply Rhodesia, led by Rhodesian born Prime Minister Ian Smith.

In 1965, Smith declared the Unilateral Declaration of Independence to break away from the UK in an act that they considered akin to the formation of the USA, who broke ties with the English crown in the 1776.

As a result of this unilateral declaration, the UN Security Council imposed economic sanctions on Rhodesia.

And on June 20th, 1969, a referendum adopted a constitution that placed political power entirely in the hands of a white minority, which constituted less than 8% of the population.

And Rhodesia was declared an independent republic on March 20th, 1970.

On my return visit to Zimbabwe, Charles and Thandie took me on a road trip to the Motobo Hills one of Zims most dramatic landscapes, with granite rock formations including the balancing rocks called kopjes, and the massive whalebacks.

Amongst these hills are hundreds of caves and rock shelters covered in cave paintings that are said to have supported continuous human occupation for over 40,000 years.

Here in Motobo National Park on a small hilltop is a sacred place for the local Ndebele people known as Malindidzimu or place of benevolent spirits.

Cecil Rhodes called it, the view of the world and co-opted it for his own resting place.

On March 26th, 1902, Rhodes died of heart failure in Cape Town.

The sacred space was taken over as a gravesite for Rhodes and his cronies, and today it remains as controversial a location as it is a beautiful landscape.

[Stephanie] What does it mean to you to be a Zimbabwean filmmaker?

Do you even think about it in that context?

[Charles] Of course I'm from Zimbabwe, I'm from Africa, and just being raised here means I've grown up in a certain environment with so many stories, and they are going to shape the way I view the world, and the way I view certain characters and my perspective on so many things, so... and I feel there have been very little stories that have been told from our perspective as Zimbabweans.

And I feel we have so many stories that people have not heard.

But personally, I don't want to be limited to certain genres.

The genres of stories that I've always wanted are considered to be non-African, and both African and Western filmmakers will look at the type of stories that I want to tell and feel like, No, but that's that's not an African story. But I'm like, Well, what's an African story? As a Zimbabwean filmmaker, I feel it's my duty to re.. ... to change the African narrative, like the African narrative has largely been, you know, poverty and death and sickness, and that's what sells.

Not to say we don't have issues, but everybody has issues.

But we just need to give a little bit of a positive feel to Africa.

[Charles] At my heart, I like imagination, I don't want to be limited in terms of my imagination.

[spooky noises in film clip] [Charles] There is stuff from our folklore but the way I want to tell those stories, may be different from the way they were told by our grandparents and our ancestors.

And people will say, no, you have to tell them that way But I'm like, as an artist and as a storyteller, I should be free to write my own stories.

As a Zimbabwean filmmaker, it's almost like it's my duty to just show the two sides of Zimbabwe just to show, to break out of the Africa. I think the world should expect to see from us stories that they don't expect to see from us.

From 1964 to 1979, there was a Second Chimurenga: Zimbabwe's War for Independence, sometimes referred to as the Rhodesian Bush War.

Three factions were pitted against each other: Ian Smith's Rhodesian white-minority government, against the guerrilla fighters of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, led by Robert Mugabe's ZANU Party, and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army of Joshua Nkomos ZAPU party.

By 1979, Ian Smith, in an attempt to quell the revolution, allowed for a limited number of black Africans to be elected into a transitional government.

In this same time frame, a West German thriller movie The Night Of The Askari was filmed on location during the Rhodesian Bush Wars.

Based on a novel, The Whispering Death. In 1979, the United African National Council, led by Abel Muzorewa, a Methodist bishop, won a majority of these seats and the country was renamed Zimbabwe.

However, warfare continued; Britain briefly retook control of the country; and in 1980, elections were held and ZANU came out on top.

Robert Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe as an internationally recognized independence was achieved.

On April 18th, 1980 Mugabe addressed the nation, speaking to race and class inequalities, land redistribution, and promoting economic development in a one party Socialist-style state.

Charles and Thandie took me to see the Heroes Acre in Harare, Zimbabwe's memorial to their liberation war.

Here you can see the graves of the leaders and soldiers that fought for independence.

If there were one thing you would like the world to know about Zimbabwe, what would that be?

It has friendly people.

Very friendly.

[Stephanie] I agree.

Thank you.

Very caring and happy, I guess.

We're just happy people.

Were just people who want to to be better, to be good to others.

We have our struggles, but we don't stand and look the other person struggling.

Sorry, Im getting emotional.

But that's who we are.

We love our country.

We love... We love doing what we do.

If it's just going to be making us happy, we will keep on doing it.

At the beginning of what would become one of the world's longest running dictatorships, Robert Mugabe was an icon for liberation in Africa.

He gained fame for fighting racist oppression and Western imperialism in former Rhodesia, having won independence for Zimbabwe after decades of white minority rule.

Throughout the 80s and 90s, the government continued to struggle with land reform issues.

Approximately 4,000 white farmers controlled one-third of the arable farmland and hundreds of these white farmers had their farms either officially redistributed, or, partially taken over by squatters responding to the government's promises.

In 2002, a law passed that allowed for more aggressive takeover of the farms.

Some examples led to violence against the white farmers and their African farmhands, and even murders.

There's a documentary film called, Mugabe and the White African, which follows one of the farmers who decided to stay and fight for the land.

He takes Mugabe to an international court to hold on to the farm.

The 2000s also brought on an onslaught of crackdowns on press and political opponents.

Rampant inflation reached 8,000% and basic consumer goods could no longer be found in shops.

By summer 2008, inflation was at 10,000,000%.

Many Zimbabweans left the country to find work in South Africa or other nations.

In 2008, despite contested elections, Mugabe held onto power and a deadly cholera epidemic made an already weak economy worse.

Constitutions continued to be amended, giving Mugabe more and more power.

But on November 15th, 2017, when Mugabe was 93-years-old, the military seized power, placed Mugabe under house arrest and Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over the presidency.

Mnangagwa declared that Zimbabwe was once again open for business.

For a while after independence, the State tried to promote Zimbabwe as a filmmaking destination for high-end studio films.

King Solomon's Mines, a 1985 Indiana Jones-wannabe action-adventure flick starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone, was filmed in Zimbabwe, along with its sequel, Quartermain. The Zimbabwean government directly invested in the anti-apartheid movie Cry Freedom about the death of South African activist Steve Biko, played by Denzel Washington.

A couple of years later, A Dry White Season was filmed in Zimbabwe, directed by Euzhan Palcy, who became the first black woman to direct a film from a major Hollywood studio.

Starring Donald Sutherland as a white South African school teacher, it is another South African apartheid-era film, where the hero is an affluent white man who sees the light and fights against an unjust system.

I sat down with filmmaker Stephen Chigorimbo: Actor, Producer and Director, who has been an Assistant Director on such films as, Cry Freedom, King Solomon's Mines, and Jake Speed. In Zimbabwe, he's especially popular for being a regular character, acting on Studio 263, a favorite soap opera which deals with HIV / AIDS.

I imagine that you have seen a lot of change in Zimbabwe from when you started as an actor to now.

Serious changes.

I mean, really, what should I say?

Serious changes.

Firstly, when I started, we were under our form of apartheid. where black people could only stay in the townships.

When it's 6 p.m., you are not allowed to be seen in town.

And when you are talking to a white person, When I'm talking to you, youre Madam.

That's where I came from.

And I tell you for a long time that affected me.

Only over the years and with the experience, and of course, having worked in many countries, it has changed.

But you can imagine I've really come a long way from a point where I would be now.

I mean, sitting next to you like this was taboo, was taboo.

You know, that's on one side.

And then on the other hand, the characters who black people would play, were only the characters that it would be either comical or baddies.

In the first film I was in, I am playing there as a terrorist.

Ten years later, in 84, I brought a project to Zimbabwe, which was at the time we called it, Asking for Trouble which was a film based on a book written by Donald Woods who had befriended this South African anti-apartheid icon, Steve Biko.

I was in London and the anti-apartheid friends of mine said, Look, we really want to do this film and of course we cannot do it in South Africa. Can you arrange so that we can get it done in Zimbabwe? And I said, Of course my government would be able to do that! I mean, Zimbabwe government was well-known for its stance against apartheid.

It's now called, Cry Freedom. Ten years earlier, I had to be a terrorist in Whispering Death, you know?

Yeah.

30 years ago, when I was on those productions, I was really the only African filmmaker per se.

Now we've got universities, who train filmmaking.

We've got colleges.

Weve got even a film school in Zimbabwe.

And we have now quite a number of Zimbabwean actors, crew, all over the world, who are doing very, very very well indeed.

Zimbabwe is a very rich culture.

Its a very rich culture historically.

A rich culture artistically.

And there are many stories to be told.

Do do do do do do do do do do do.... The Zimbabwe government never earned a return on their investment into Cry Freedom, and thus, after a few years dabbling in Hollywood theyve since strayed away from producing major feature films.

So in the 1990s, moviemaking was dependent on independent filmmakers using foreign donors funds.

And as a result, many became issue films, where the moral message became more important than the story or profit.

They were often funded by nonprofit institutions focused on issue-based awareness and education.

Such topics might include promoting democracy, and human rights, protecting the rights of vulnerable groups such as women and children, HIV-AIDS awareness, and the rule of law.

The best known films from this time period include Neria. Neria centers around the daily struggles of a young mother in a rural town who's been unexpectedly widowed with two young kids to care for.

Her brother-in-law takes advantage of the situation and strips Neria of all her assets and security.

Neria was a popular movie that really struck at the core of the society at the time.

This film helped bring awareness to women about their rights, and in the years to follow, the laws changed for the better to protect women such as Neria.

Another influential film from this time period is Flame, directed by Ingrid Sinclair, set in 1970s Rhodesia during the Liberation War.

Flame was selected for the Directors Fortnight at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

Inspired by the movies of the 1990s, I accompanied Charles and Thandie along with their kids Bridget, Jona and Shami, to hike around Domboshava, a key location in Neria. Here lies a beautiful landscape: cliffs, caves, and streams.

And it is also a local rainmaking spot.

[Stephanie] I've now spoken to a couple filmmakers, actors, producers, whatnot, and when I ask about the challenges in Zimbabwe of being a filmmaker, no one mentions what I see as day to day obstacles, such as the fact that you don't currently have electricity.

So all these particular issues do affect us as filmmakers.

But for example, if it's power, it's a problem, but we know we can get we can use gear that uses batteries, we can use LED lights.

Inasmuch as they are challenges and there are very big challenges.

But there are things which we can see a way around which we can find ways to actually make our films.

So as you are saying, wed consider a challenge something that youve got no control over.

You know, electricity goes, but we can control it.

We can put solar.

But distribution, so we consider that a challenge because it's got factors that are beyond us.

[Stephanie] You've traveled a lot around the world... you both, I believe you both have family that live in other countries abroad.

And yet you're both still here with your family and making films here in Zimbabwe.

Why have you decided to remain in Zimbabwe?

Firstly, this is our country and we have a passion for our country.

We have a passion for the film industry here in Zimbabwe and we would really love to see it grow and we want to be part of the solution.

I think every industry that's standing wherever it is, is because theyre people who stood to build it and set it up, and we remained here because weve wanted to be the people that do that for the Zimbabwean film industry.

Mana Pools, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is a wildlife estate with no physical boundaries.

The Zambezi River flows right through it.

Without fences, animals are in their most natural habitat.

There are four main pools.

Mana means four in Shona.

And especially in the dry season, one will see a lot of animals converge at these pools to nourish themselves.

Mana has four of the Big Five and we saw them all: Lions, leopards, buffalo, and a plethora of elephants.

We also saw a wealth of birdlife, hippos galore!

And the incredible painted dog.

An episode in a David Attenborough series, Dynasties follows a pack of these wild dog throughout Mana Pools, with an emphasis on their matriarchal structure.

[character in film clip] Auntie Immaculate!

Finally, now I can go home.

2 Dead Government Officials is a short film directed by Charles and written by Thandie, based on her original, award-winning play of the same name.

Produced by this husband and wife duo, the film was shot using natural light and minimal equipment.

This film has a production value far exceeding its budget.

You can see the strength of Charles and Thandies creativity grow from Mind Games to 2 Dead Government Officials, utilizing a strong cast and compelling writing, The movie pushes the boundaries of Zimbabwean themes, tackling a fictional story of nepotism, political corruption, and familial relationships.

Corruption, no matter how insignificant it seems, endangers the lives of citizens.

Imagine a blackout in Parirenyatwa Hospital, [film clip in Shona] He is fully responsible for their deaths.

positive, inspirational music positive, inspirational music [Stephanie] What do you hope for your son's generation and what are your desires for him growing up here in Zimbabwe?

My biggest passion is, if he should ever decide he wants to go into the arts industry, there at least has to be an industry for him to go into.

I don't want him to go through what I went through to get to where I am.

Like what Charles was saying: that we want to build an industry, and one of my biggest motivations for that, is my child.

If there is an industry, then he won't have to go through, you know, he won't have to walk 20 kilometers, he won't have to be broke for seven years.

If he ever decides to get into the industry.

[Charles] We are Christians.

And we have grown up in a particular environment, and we also do want our son to grow up also in touch with who we are and how we are as a culture.

We've got our own culture as a people, and as Christian Zimbabweans.

If we do a good job with what we are doing, maybe that can inspire him.

But if it doesn't, at least we need to teach him to be the best version of himself.

upbeat, happy music Since leaving Zimbabwe the first time around at the end of 2019, Charles, Thandie, and I remained close friends.

They visited me in New Mexico, where they experienced snow for the first time.

Charles and I have become collaborators on Cinema Nomad.

He works as an excellent editor and I cannot imagine this project without him.

And in 2025, Charles family accompanied my mother to the Boma Drum and Dance show in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe.

[Greetings in local languages] Welcome!

She absolutely loved it.

drumming and chanting [birds chirp] Meanwhile, Charles is a Christian preacher and biblical scholar with a growing following.

He tends to separate his filmmaking life from his preaching life, but both endeavors are of enormous importance to him and help shape who he is as a creative person and a community leader.

In 2025, life proved to be a little easier than in 2019.

The U.S.

dollar was back in business, and life went on as normal. marimbas play We want to be among the best filmmakers in the world, and that's what we are aiming for.

So, the challenge is now just in the mind.

It's not what you have, it's what you do with what you have.

And that's our our motto.

Sometimes people can get into this chain of just complaining.

People are focused on why they can't do something, and reasons why they can't do something rather than look looking for reasons of what they can do with what they have.

So I always ask, what do I have and what can I do with what I have?

If you start listing the things you don't have, like... youll die.

[Charles chuckles.]

You'll die of stress.

So look at the things you have and use them.

[Thandie] And use the things that you have whilst you're working towards getting the things you want.

Then your next project should always be better than the last.

Because I believe the only way you can get to a stage where you do something that no one has ever done before is if you learn to do things that you yourself have never done before.

So every time you need to do something you have never done before, and eventually, you will be doing things that no one has ever done before.

[Stephanies narration] I always feel a tinge of sadness while departing a Cinema Nomad country.

It seems as though I leave a place just as I'm starting to feel at home.

This was especially true in Zimbabwe with Charles and Thandie.

When I arrived, I sensed a budding friendship, but I leave as family.

I've learned a lot from Charles and Thandie.

What sticks with me most is their approach to life: what many of us would take as obstacles, they see as opportunities; to be more creative, to find a path forward, to survive and persevere.

Zimbabwe can be a tough place.

Charles and Thandie stay, because it is their home and they love it.

They continue their quest to build up an industry that their children's generation can be proud of.

To tell their stories in an earnest way.

And to live up to the notion that life is possible. To learn more about the Cinema Nomad filmmakers and dive deeper into the exciting world of global cinema, visit our website: CinemaNomad.TV