by BERNARD CHIKETO
IT IS THE synopsis that grips, not the scenery. Two detectives are tasked with investigating the kidnapping and disappearance of a 15-month-old baby, only to find that everyone—the mother, a powerful socialite, and even the detectives themselves—has become a prime suspect.
This is the premise of “Criminal Files”, a multilingual mystery thriller now airing weekly on ZBC TV.
Yet, the series is more than its plot.
Set in the sugar estates of Chiredzi, and filmed in five languages, it is a deliberate act of artistic decentralisation, born from a filmmaker who would rather not talk about it.
Ignitious “Igi” Matope, an award-winning director and founder of Pikicha Afrika, is a reluctant revolutionary.
Described by colleagues as media-shy, he agreed to an interview only reluctantly.
Often, his work is claimed by others because of his reserved nature.
But his output speaks for itself. With just nine years of experience in the country’s shoestring-budget film industry, his romantic drama “Goodman” was selected as a semi-finalist from over 3,000 submissions at the 12th International Moving Film Festival in Iran.
Early shorts like “Fatima” won prizes at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF).
He has achieved this from his hometown of Mutare, refusing to relocate to the capital where the “big players” reside. “It is not an achievement for Mutare only but the whole film industry,” he once said of his successes.
But his latest project is his most deliberate political statement yet.
A Map of Lost Tongues
“A lot of productions are centralised in Harare and we keep seeing the same people on our tv channels,” Matope says. “I have a desire to develop actors in other parts of Zimbabwe. I also want to make films in other parts of the country and show the other side of Zimbabwe that we rarely see.”
The film was produced in Shangaan, Ndebele, Shona, English and Ndau. “We have 16 languages in Zimbabwe and our film productions must also have diversity to meet the needs of different people,” he insists.
The Hard Economics of Hub Creation
Matope’s regional push arrives as Zimbabwe’s creative sector undergoes a structural overhaul.
The government recently set aside a US$10 million fund for local content production as part of a five-year film strategy.
Yet, as Matope knows, resilience is often a product of necessity.
The series was shot in Chiredzi using mostly first-time actors, and due to budget issues, “most of them were trained on set during shooting”.
The writer was Joseph Dzatsata; the cinematography and editing were handled by a young female film graduate from Midlands State University, Alisha Machumi. All pre- and post-production was done at Pikicha Afrika studio in Mutare.
Matope remains typically taciturn about his ambitions.
“I hope to work on other minority languages that include chitoko,” he says, adding that he would like to eventually produce a film in sign language.
“My passion is in filming in other remote locations and show diversity and inclusiveness. No one should be left behind.”
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