Moses Madyira
CHIKOMBA—Chivhu-based drama series, Village Secretes which has since gone international has moved to connect urban lives in seasons 12 and 13 which were shot in the transit town recently.
Two seasons, 12 and 13 which were shot from 27 March to 20 April this year both have rural and urban scenes which were shot in Chivhu urban and Manyene to give the story line a better line.
The content of the two seasons is expected to cover 52 weeks. The drama streams on ZBC and JIT TV, a South African-based TV station that broadcasts in 40 countries in Africa and it’s available on mobile phone applications in India, France, and other countries.
The movie regales the audience with its minute capture of day-to-day rural life experiences, mainly how rural folks survive in the middle of modernity which threatens the beauty of traditional life as well as African culture.
The movie has become a source of pride for the people of Chikomba as it resonates well with their stories and the whole country at large. It explicitly captures the original Zimbabwean story without influence from the outside world and other cultures.
The movie wittingly avoids Nigerian Culture infiltration which has become a benchmark in African Cinema with the ever-growing popularity of Nollywood. Many local dramas across Africa always contain fragments of Nigerian Culture in the quest to win a wider audience but Village Secretes manages to tell the Zimbabwean story as it is.
In an interview with The Midweek Watch, Village Secretes executive director, Leonard Chibhamu said the move to shoot some episodes in the urban came after the realization that a full Zimbabwean story cannot be entirely told without urban life as people move from rural to urban frequently. He expressed his gratitude to local authorities and those who offered venues for the movie to be shot.
“We have moved to shoot the movie in both rural and urban after realizing that a full Zimbabwean story cannot be told without an urban narrative because people usually move from the rural areas to the urban frequently.
“I am really happy with the overall shoot, the response from local residence gives us the confidence to do more productions in the transit town,” said Chibhamu.
Former Chikomba West Junior MP, Kudakwashe Musoni (19) who is also starring in the drama series for the first time expressed his gratitude for the opportunity the local drama series has offered him.
“I am grateful to Village Secretes for giving me, and other youth an opportunity to do what we love the most which is art,” said Musoni.
Natasha Mungati (21) who also features in the drama expressed her gratitude for the opportunity of being on air entertaining millions and millions of people.
