Film tackles GBV

Brenda Phiri Entertainment Reporter
Local arts organisation Savanna Trust has intensified its partnership with Swedish-based arts organisation Integrationsteatern by producing a documentary film “Våga Minnas” (Dare to Remember). The film is part of the two arts organisations’ two-year partnership that has given birth to a project entitled “Promoting Community Dialogue and Action on Gender Based Violence Through Theatre”.

The project has seen over 20 theatre performances being staged in Domboshava and Hatcliffe where dialogue on the pertinent issues that include the Domestic Violence Act of Zimbabwe.

Project manager Kudzai Chimbaira, who is visiting from Sweden, said: “This project is an initiative whose aim is to promote dialogue because our society has a deeply rooted culture of silence especially in relation to gender based violence. When I was growing up in Gwanda, I remember women were being beaten up by their husbands at night and no one said anything about it.

“The culture of silence was normalised, no support network existed for the victims, there was no chance to tackle the situation and this is what we aim to break.”

Apart from raising awareness, she said, the project also seeks to remove the stigma and violence against women.

Chimbaira added that they aimed to enhance women’s voices on GBV from community level.

“This project seeks to empower communities with information and creating alternative platforms of dialoguing in a non-confrontational manner through theatre thus seeking lasting solutions to the scourge of GBV in the communities,” said Nyasha Chagonda from Savanna Trust.

A writers programme is also part of the partnership project where dramaturge Leonard Matsa and three playwrights were engaged.

Two of them, Thandiwe Nyamasvisva and Rudo Mutangadura, are from Zimbabwe while Johanna Emanuelsson hails from Sweden.

“The three playwrights are going through a process of writing plays that deal with women in relation to gender based violence. The project has a cultural exchange component where Integrationsteatern (Sweden) visited Zimbabwe and Savanna Trust (Zimbabwe) visited Sweden to learn more about Gender Based Violence in each country” said Chagonda.

She said the move was aimed at inspiring the writers as well as the theatre performers.

Mutangadura and Nyamasvisva together with Matsa travelled to Sweden early this year where their work in progress scripts was read.

Their documentary film, “Dare to Remember”, was directed by renowned Swedish director Ewa Cederstam and attracted rave reviews when it was screened at Alliance Francaise recently.

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