‘Sponsors insincere with disabled artists’

Standard People
There are a number of disabled artists that have made a mark locally through their productions. The likes of Fanyana Dube, Somandla Ndebele, Paul Matavire and Chamunorwa Nebeta made an impact in the arts industry despite living with various forms of disabilities.

But there are numerous instances when promoters and sponsors have taken disabled artists for rides. There are promoters that have initiated programmes for the disabled arguing that their motive was to help them make ends meet.

At the end of such programmes it would emerge that such sponsors would have been engaging in the programmes for personal benefits. Because of their physical condition, the disabled often receive a lot of sympathy from well-wishers and the community but insincere sponsors sometimes take advantage of this sympathy to use the disabled for personal gains. Below is an account of such a case:

A self-proclaimed filmmaker, director and producer, Nyasha Nhau believes some businesspeople in the country exploit disability to propel their investments.

In the event that their prowess develops to the extent of their wish, some sponsors abruptly abandon the physically handicapped people in pursuit of other lucrative deals despite having benefitted from their intellectual input.

Nhau, a midget, says they are sometimes used as objects to draw sympathy in markets that may seem difficult to penetrate. He says he is a disappointed man, after having partnered several businesses as a technical advisor in advertising their products ahead of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, only to be dumped soon after the fiesta.

Business moguls were sponsoring the shooting of a film, Soulmate, which he wrote and has been directing and leading in its production since January last year.

“I received sponsorship from various organisations to shoot the film Soulmate while I also played a part in promoting my sponsors’ business ventures. I did a lot of work before, and during the World Cup in South Africa, as an advisor in the area of advertising for a certain well-established company which sponsored the shooting of Soulmate.

“When the World Cup ended, the sponsors became evasive and declared that their coffers were dry,” Nhau said. Soulmate, a film fragmented into six seasons and whose shooting is on hold due to lack of funds, has only eight episodes of Season one accomplished, with the remaining five episodes still to be done. Nhau says a single season of the film is made up of 13 episodes, while the entire film will have six seasons.

Nhau plans to pursue his dreams and declared that he would strive to make Soulmate, whose shooting takes place at various locations, including Chitungwiza, Dzimbahwe Lodges, Moonlight Funeral Services headquarters in the capital, among others, a successful production.

He says efforts to revive the production process is underway and has so far engaged a new sponsor whom he only identified as a Croco Motors shareholder, who is likely to fund the shooting of some of the remaining episodes of the film.

He gave thumbs up to a number of helpful partners who realised that it was not his disability that drove him into the film industry, but his desire and ability to knit facts of life into a potentially fascinating artifact.

 

Gumisai Nyoni

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