Harare will this weekend play host to popular Nollywood stars who will be shooting two films at one go for the next two months.
Expected to arrive are the popular combination of Tom and Jerry (Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme), Ejike Asiegbu, Patience Ozokwor aka Mai Azuka, Oge Okoye and two others.
The visit has been facilitated by Oketex Investments and it is hoped that the stars would appear at the closing ceremony of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Travel and Tourism Africa Fair, which roars into life today.
Oketex Investments director Chief George Okeke, said even though his company did not make any money with their previous film, “The Zimbabwe I Know”, he felt the need to “keep the fire burning”.
“We may have made losses with our previous project, which has been pirated even beyond our borders but I can assure you that we are not about to quit.
“These pirates are only giving us strength to continue building the film industry in Zimbabwe.
“We are not in the movie business just for the money, we have also fallen in love with the local film industry and we want to see it grow,” said Okeke.
“Last time we ended up doing a rushed job but this time around we will go according to plan.
“We want to make sure that we market the top Zimbabwean tourist destinations using these films,” he said.
Okeke says the Nigerians will make up just a small percentage of the cast of the two movies that he intends to shoot around Zimbabwe.
“About 90 percent of the cast will be Zimbabweans and these are Zimbabwean stories that will just be spiced up with a few popular Nigerian faces and some Nigerian experts at making movies.
“The Nigerian movie industry is big and it only makes sense for us to take advantage of their experience but not jeopardising in any way the local industry,” he said.
All expenses for the two movies, “All I Have” and “The Love Above” will be taken care of by Oketex Investments although the company will work hand in hand with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority as it seeks to market some of Zimbabwe’s prime tourist resorts.
According to Okeke, the stories, which he wrote himself are quite moving.
Some of the local actors that have previously taken part in the Zimbabwe/Nigerian film projects include Tatenda Mavetera, Tonderai Chiyindiko, Elijah Madzikatire and Charity Dlodlo, to mention just a few
