BY SHARON SIBINDI
Award-winning actress Tendaishe Chitima has urged African creatives to step up and collaborate across the spectrum in order to become a global force in entertainment.
The South Africa-based star made the remarks in a wide-ranging interview touching on her stunning 2020 and latest production titled Working Wives.
Chitima has continued on her upward trajectory from last year into the new year with a promise of scaling even greater heights.
The actress is back on screens in the new series Working Wives, which is currently showing exclusively on Showmax.
Chitima features alongside a star-studded cast, including Evey Mwatse, Shaun Mundawarara, Munya Chidzonga, and her Cook Off movie co-star Tendai Ryan Nguni. The series follows the lives and experiences of five women coping with expectations of family, church, work, and society in general in a satirical fashion.
“I had so much fun working with the talented cast and crew on Working Wives and hope people will also enjoy it. It carries heartwarming moments, bits of banter, and satire, with real-life issues driving it forward. I was also glad to portray a character that is different from some of my previous castings, in terms of my dimension and characterisation as an actress,” said Chitima, who also draws creative inspiration from theatre and literature.
Chitima is inspired by the execution of authentic stories and is actively pursuing the improvement of standards in the film industry for African creatives and urged collaboration across the continent.
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Last year she worked on the UNDP Futures Report: Making the AfCFTA Work for Women and Youth and was featured in Hanna Mentz’s 40 Great Zimbabweans photographic publication.
She has a deep appreciation of the arts industry with exposure abroad as an actress and writer, including festival runs in the UK and Hollywood last year with the Gonarezhou movie.
“There is room opening up for creatives to take their talent global with the coming-in of digital platforms and streaming avenues. The world is becoming smaller in a digital sense and your work starts to compete with narratives and talent from across the globe,” she said.
“I am passionate about developing the industry in Africa and feel that if we want to be global players, we must have global standards as well. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but get the formulas right. Let us do our research and take the careers we have chosen passionately and do our best from an informed perspective,” she said.
Chitima also highlighted that the industry needs equipped people and experts who can unlock the resources on the continent and maximise the talent found in Africa.
“I am excited about the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement because I feel it will open up doors for Zimbabweans to take advantage of what it offers. It offers the ease of free movement of goods and services across Africa and you can imagine how as filmmakers we can leverage on that opportunity,” she said.
Chitima has featured in Isidingo, Mutual Friends and iNumber Number, among other high-profile screen and theatre productions.
