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Afriwood, a company that markets and distributes African films struck a deal with Rainbow Cinemas.
The bulk of the movies will be from Nigerian film industry, popularly known as Nollywood which is the world’s biggest producer of English films.
Popular Nollywood actors and actresses such as Rita Dominic, Desmond Elliot, Patience Ozwokor have entertained Zimbabweans with their drama filled films.
In the past, local movie houses only screened western films, while African productions were only beamed on television or sold at street corners by pirates.
But the trend is poised for a major change with Afriwood screening both latest African and Hollywood movies at these venues.
Veteran actor, film producer and director, Steven Chigorimbo said with support from South African filmmakers started Afriwood aimed at marketing African films.
“There was no proper distribution of African movies, hence the introduction of Afriwood,” he said.
The company has since started distributing a movie called “Through The Glass”, an African movie shot in the United States and directed and produced by famous Nigerian actress Stephanie Okereke.
“Through The Glass” has been showing at Rainbow Cinemas in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare since February 24 this year.
Chigorimbo said another reason behind the formation of Afriwood was for African film producers to make enough money to enable them to sustain their industry.
He said this was the trend that sustained the major filmmaking powerhouses like Hollywood, Nollywood and Bollywood, where new productions raked in huge profits from screening at cinema houses.
In these countries, people flock to watch new movies that are vigorously marketed before their release dates through previews and trailers.
Even the actors themselves go on tours marketing the movies to ensure that they make money from screenings.
Chigorimbo said the introduction of Afriwood would also make sure that producers would not incur losses but instead recover the money they would have invested in the making of the movies.
“Another reason was to deal with poor marketing and distribution methods and make sure that producing movies for a loss becomes a thing of the past,” said Chigorimbo.Not only is Afriwood catering for Zimbabwe and South African markets but also has branches in countries like Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Nigeria, among other African countries.
Afriwood has distributed and marketed South African movie “Ingxoxo (The Negotiation)” and Zimbabwean films such as “I Want a Wedding Dress” by Tsitsi Dangarembga, “Deep Ocean” by Admire Maramba and “Big Time” by the late Olley Maruma.
“Every month we will be releasing a new movie. We hope to reach 15 African countries in this project and hope to release 600 movies for a start,” said Chigorimbo.
He said they would be distributing the movies through DVDs, the Internet and cinemas among other channels.
The mode of distribution will depend on the type of the movie and its producer.
Chigorimbo also expressed that the company has plans to liase with mobile operators to sign a contract where subscribers will download pictures, scenes and soundtracks from their favourite movies.