Joyah’s 3rd movie in the offing
Malawi’s award-winning producer Shemu Joyah will soon start shooting his third movie.
This is despite Joyah’s plans of releasing a John Chilembwe biopic still hanging in balance due to lack of funding.
With a script ready for over two years, the movie maker is still upbeat of telling the life and vision of the departed freedom fighter.
“Concerning the Chilembwe film, there is not much to add from what I have already said several times that were are looking for funding. I am not in a position to go into too many details at the moment,” he said in an interview.
by mid-December
However, Malawi’s top movie maker is moving forward with a new movie to be shot next month in Blantyre.
“We have done auditions and we are now in the process of sourcing funding. I am not sure when we will shoot, but the shooting will take place in Blantyre. I would rather that for both projects wait until I am sure that we are going to shoot before going to the press. It took two years to find money for The Last Fishing Boat, but I think there will be news on the new film by mid-December. I would rather wait for that time to give more details,” he explained.
Joyah has made strides in the movie industry with his two award winning films—Seasons of a Life and The Last Fishing Boat—both of which have been screened at several international film festivals.
On taking advantage of DStv’s call to commission films from the Sadc region by launching a first movie project under Zambezi Magic Original Film Productions, the movie maker said he is undecided.
“I have not yet made my mind about the Zambezi Magic offer because there are several restrictions like the length of the film, which has to be 80 minutes. To fulfill this requirement I have to re-edit my scripts since I always write my scripts for the film to be between 100 and 110 minutes.
“I don’t think I have the time to re-edit before the deadline, which is November 27. Alternatively I will submit as they are and then we will discuss the re-editing if we get picked. I still have a few days to decide,” he explained.
Through channel 160, Zambezi Magic’s project seeks to work with filmmakers in the region in producing content that will be shown on the platform.
Working closely with local scriptwriters and producers Zambezi Magic wants to produce 12 films over the next 12 months.
The channel is calling on professional and budding scriptwriters to be part of making Zambezi Magic the true home of Southern African entertainment TV by submitting their best script for a feature film.
