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Enock Chihombori and Nigel Munyathi

Godwin Muzari Showbiz Mirror
While lack of sponsorship is the common challenge that arts genres face in the country, lack of appreciation from fans is also growing at an alarming level.
It seems numbers at most art events are dwindling and this is slowly affecting the development of the industry.
The recently held International Images Film Festival mirrors the situation on the ground.
A number of films were screened at various venues around the capital but very few viewers attended the festival.
The film industry is among the worst affected in this scenario.

The low attendance at the festival is reflective of the general reluctance that people now have towards following films.
Our movie houses are struggling to sustain operations because people no longer go to watch movies.

Rainbow City cinemas closed last year as huge operational debts weighed heavily on their shoulders against the backdrop of massively falling figures of movie-goers.
The company which ran the cinemas tried to complement income through screening football matches and opening a bar.

Although the bar was initially meant for viewers, it later turned into a commercial entity but the returns could not rescue the film company and it eventually sank.
Existing movie houses are facing hard times and they are now banking on hiring out their venues for various events.

Development of technology has surpassed the physical space of public film viewing as people now have access to films via various technological avenues.
People can now access the latest films via the Internet while piracy also avails the latest productions at cheap prices.

This wave has not only had negative impact on movie houses but it has also dealt a major blow to local filmmakers.
It is a sad scenario but the harsh truth is that the development of our film industry is under serious threat.

At a time when local filmmakers were turning away from the small screen to the big screen for maximized returns, tables have turned.
Local films like “Sores of Emmanuel”, “Sabhuku Vharazipi”, “The Kiss” and “Gringo the Troublemaker” were launched in cinemas in search of alternative income after realisation that releasing productions for television is not sustainable in the country but that move could not yield the expected results.

Enock Chihombori, the producer of the Gringo series almost quit the screening of “Gringo the Troublemaker” as piracy took its toll on the film industry.
When he took his film to Rainbow Cinemas, very few people went to watch and pirated copies emerged on the streets.

While musicians can find solace in live shows when sales of their music are swallowed by piracy, filmmakers are in deep trouble because there is nothing beyond the final production that can attract viewers.

Music lovers would go to listen to their favourite songs over and over at live shows yet they cannot do the same for films at movie houses.
So, when musicians complain that things are hard because attendance in showbiz is falling, filmmakers become the proverbial fish in small rivers at the face of massive drought hitting oceans.

The just-ended International Images Film Festival took place under these sorry circumstances.
Many good local and international films were on offer but there were few viewers to appreciate the productions.

When a good local film like “Two Villages Apart” gets a showcase platform at a festival and fails to attract expected viewers, it pains and discourages producers.
IIFF did well to honour outstanding films, filmmakers and actors but this was only a consolation that the players in the industry got from the festival.

The real consumers of the products were severely limited.
IIFF came after the Zimbabwe International Film Festival that was re-launched last year and fell into a similar trap.

Despite digging deep into the yesteryear bag to bring historic productions like “Yellow Card” and “Neria”  ZIFF could not get its expected audience.
Nigel Munyati of ZIFF complained that viewers let them down at a festival that could have been historic.

The situation in the industry is disheaertening.
There is no motivation to come up with good films because the returns cannot cover production costs.

There is no inspiration for aspiring filmmakers and actors because the industry is swimming in poverty. The corporate sector is swiftly abandoning the industry.  The film industry is bleeding.