Zimbabwe has an active film culture that includes films made in Zimbabwe during its pre- and post-colonial periods. Economic crisis and political crisis have been features of the industry. A publication from the 1980s counted 14 cinemas in Zimbabwe's capital city,

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

. According to a 1998 report only 15 percent of the population had been to a cinema. European and American films have been made on location in Zimbabwe as well as Indian films. American films are popular in Zimbabwe but face restrictions limiting their distribution.

History

Great Britain's

Colonial Film Unit The Colonial Film Unit (C.F.U) was a propaganda and educational film production organization of the British government. It produced films for various British colonies including British Guiana and Nigeria. The Jamaica Film Unit was a division f ...

was active in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's post-colonial government has worked to sponsor film development. Germany helped fund a film training and production program.

Festivals

The Zimbabwe Film Festival Zimbabwean directors include

Tsitsi Dangarembga Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker. Her debut novel, ''Nervous Conditions'' (1988), which was the first to be published in English by a Black woman from Zimbabwe, was named by the BBC in ...

, Rumbi Katedza,

Roger Hawkins (film director) Roger Hawkins is a Zimbabwean director and film producer best known for films such as ''The Legend of the Sky Kingdom'' (2003), ''The Silent Fall'' (2006) and ''The Lion of Judah'' (2009). Early life and career Born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe ...

, Godwin Mawuru,

Michael Raeburn Michael Raeburn (22 January 1943 or 1948) is a Zimbabwean filmmaker. Life Raeburn's mother was partly Egyptian and his father was British.Kedmon Nyasha Hungwe 2001 Born in Cairo, he lived in Rhodesia from the age of three. He studied at the Unive ...

, Farai Sevenzo,

Ingrid Sinclair Ingrid Sinclair is a director, screenwriter and producer best known for being an important filmmaker of the African Renaissance. She is internationally recognized for her 1996 film, ''Flame'', a drama about the Zimbabwe War of Liberation and her d ...

Sydney Taivavashe Sydney Taivavashe (born March 20,1991) is a Zimbabwean film director, producer and screenwriter. Early life Sydney Taivavashe was born in 1991 in Masvingo, Zimbabwe where he grew up. Career Sydney made his debut film in 2006, a short film titl ...

, and

Edwina Spicer Edwina Spicer (born 1948) is a Zimbabwean journalist and documentary filmmaker. Life Spicer was born in 1948 in Belfast. Spicer benefited from the growth of independent production companies in Zimbabwe between 1980 and 1995. Her documentaries ha ...

. Zimbabwean actors include:

Munya Chidzonga Munyaradzi "Munya" Chidzonga (born December 8, 1983) is a Zimbabwean actor. He first rose to prominence in 2008, with his appearance on the reality TV show Big Brother Africa representing Zimbabwe in its third season, in which he achieved third p ...

Tongayi Chirisa Tongayi Arnold Chirisa is a Zimbabwean actor known for playing Man Friday on NBC's ''Crusoe'' television series, Father Nicholas on ''The Jim Gaffigan Show'', and Hekule on Leon Schuster's '' Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past'' movie. He is also ...

Adam Croasdell Adam Croasdell is a Zimbabwean-born English actor. He played the role of Dr. Al Jenkins on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and has appeared on shows such as ''Blood of Zeus'', ''Castlevania'', ''Monarch'', '' NCIS'' and ''Preacher''. He has a ...

, John Indi,

Dominic Kanaventi Dominic Kanaventi is a well known film and stage actor from Zimbabwe. He has appeared in ''Shamwari'' in 1982, ''Mandela'', ''Cry Freedom'' in 1987 and ''The Midday Sun'' in 1989. He has had major roles in '' Neria'', released in 1993 and ''Salone ...

, Edgar Langeveldt,

Tawanda Manyimo Tawanda Manyimo (Born 1981) is a Zimbabwean-born New Zealand actor. Manyimo was born in Bulawayo and educated at Tennyson Primary School, and Milton High School. Manyimo left his job in logistics in Zimbabwe in 2003, and migrated to New Zealan ...

, l

Cont Mhlanga Cont Mdladla Mhlanga (1957/1958 – 1 August 2022) was a Zimbabwean playwright, actor, and theatre director. He was also the founder and head of the Amakhosi Theatre Productions company, formed in 1982. Mhlanga was a critic of the government ...

and

Lucian Msamati Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati (born 5 March 1976) is a British-Tanzanian actor. He played Salladhor Saan in HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', and was the first black actor to play Iago in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2015 production of ''Othel ...

. Zimbabwean actresses include

Chipo Chung Chipo Tariro Chung (born 17 August 1977) is a Zimbabwean actress and activist based in London. Early life and education Chung was born as a refugee in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her given name Chipo means "gift" in the Shona language. She spent h ...

, Carole Gray,

Kubi Indi Kubi Chaza Indi is a Zimbabwean development activist and businesswoman. Under her maiden name, Kubi Chaza, she was an actress in the United Kingdom, appearing in '' Live and Let Die'' in 1973 as a sales clerk serving James Bond. After returning t ...

, and

Sibongile Mlambo Sibongile Mlambo is a Zimbabwean actress based in the United States. She is known for starring in Netflix’s ''Lost in Space (2018 TV series), Lost in Space'', the Starz historical adventure television series ''Black Sails (TV series), Black Sail ...

. Several films cover the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

. Zimbabwe hosts the International Images Film Festival for Women and

Zimbabwe International Film Festival The Zimbabwe International Film Festival (abbreviated as ZIFF) is an annual ten-day film festival held in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambez ...

. Keith Shiri is a Zimbabwean film curator.

Films

Films from

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

*''

Shangani Patrol (film) ''Shangani Patrol'' is a war film based upon the non-fiction book ''A Time to Die'' by Robert Cary (1968), and the historical accounts of the Shangani Patrol, with Brian O'Shaughnessy as Major Allan Wilson and Will Hutchins as the lead Scout Fre ...

'' (1968) Films from Zimbabwe include: *'' Albino (film)'' (1976), a German thriller *''

King Solomon's Mines (1985 film) ''King Solomon's Mines'' is a 1985 action adventure film, and a film adaptation of the 1885 novel of the same name by H. Rider Haggard. It stars Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, Herbert Lom and John Rhys-Davies. It was produced by Cannon Film ...

'', an action adventure film shot in Zimbabwe *'' Kizhakku Africavil Sheela'' (1987), a

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

film largely shot in Zimbabwe *''

A World Apart (film) ''A World Apart'' is a 1988 anti-apartheid drama film and directed by Chris Menges and starring Barbara Hershey, David Suchet, Jeroen Krabbé, Paul Freeman, Tim Roth, and Jodhi May. Written by Shawn Slovo, it is based on the lives of Slovo's ...

'' (1988), the film addresses apartheid *''

Jit (film) ''Jit'' is a Zimbabwean film made in 1990, written and directed by Michael Raeburn. It is about a young man, nicknamed UK, who lives in Harare with his musician uncle, Oliver Mtukudzi, who plays himself. UK is knocked out when he falls out of a ...

'' (1990) *'' White Hunter Black Heart'', an American film shot in Zimbabwe *'' Neria'' (1993) *''

Everyone's Child ''Everyone's Child'' is a 1995 film directed by author Tsitsi Dangarembga who became the first black Zimbabwean woman to direct a feature film. The script is based on the 1989 novel ''Harvest of Thorns'' by Shimmer Chinodya and stars Elijah Madzika ...

'' (1995) *''

Flame (1996 film) ''Flame'' is a controversial 1996 war film directed by Ingrid Sinclair, produced by Joel Phiri and Simon Bright, and stars Marian Kunonga and Ulla Mahaka. It was the first Zimbabwean film, since independence, to be set in the Rhodesian Bush War. ...

'' set during the

*''

'' *''

Forbidden Fruit (2000 film) ''Forbidden Fruit'' is a 2000 German/Zimbabwean short film written and directed by Sue Maluwa-Bruce, Beate Kunath and Yvonne Zückmantel. Filmed in Zimbabwe, the film depicts the romantic relationship between two women, and the aftermath of the dis ...

'' *''

The Legend of the Sky Kingdom ''The Legend of the Sky Kingdom'' is a 2003 animated feature film directed by Roger Hawkins. Produced in Harare, Zimbabwe, the film was the first full-length animated feature film to come out of Africa. It was based on a children's book of the ...

'' (2003), an animated film *''

Tanyaradzwa ''Tanyaradzwa'' is a 2005 Zimbabwean award-winning bilingual drama film written and directed by Tawanda Gunda Mupengo. The film stars Tongayi Chirisa, Kudakwashe Maradzika and Tendai Musoni in the lead roles. The titular role is played by the l ...

'' (2005) *''

Mugabe and the White African ''Mugabe and the White African'' is a 2009 documentary film by Lucy Bailey & Andrew Thompson and produced by David Pearson & Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock. It has won many awards including the Grierson 2010 and been BAFTA and Emmy Nominated. The film ...

'' (2009), a documentary *'' iThemba'' (2010), a documentary about a band *'' Sores of Emmanuel'' (2010) a film about a single father's hope, written and directed by Eddie Ndhlovu *''

Something Nice from London ''Something Nice from London'' is a 2013 Zimbabwean British drama film written by Petina Gappah and directed by Nick Marcq. The film stars Munya Chidzonga, Tonderai Munyebvu and Lovewell Chisango in the lead roles while Memory Busoso, Rambidzai ...

'' (2013) *''

Democrats (film) ''Democrats'' is a 2014 Danish documentary film directed by Camilla Nielsson about politics in Zimbabwe following the contentious 2008 election and the subsequent coalition effort to rewrite the country's constitution. Synopsis Following the ...

'', a Danish documentary about politics in Zimbabwe *'' Thandie's Diary'' (2018) a film about gender based violence against women written and directed by Eddie Ndhlovu. *''

Gonarezhou (film) ''Gonarezhou'' is a 2019 Zimbabwean Poaching, anti-poaching awareness film written and directed by Sydney Taivavashe. The film is produced in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Premise The film is about a youn ...

'' 2019, an anti-poaching film The film ''

Lumumba (film) ''Lumumba'' is a 2000 biographical film directed by Raoul Peck. A co-production of France, Germany, Belgium, and Haiti filmed in French, the film depicts the rise and fall of Patrice Lumumba, and is set in the months before and after Congo-Léop ...

'' was filmed in Zimbabwe.

References

{{Reflist *