Zimpapers Logo

Wayne Chiridza, Showbiz Reporter

THE European Union (EU) Film Festival, which has been running in Bulawayo since Tuesday, ends tomorrow having seen a huge turn out from people around the city.

The movies, which were picked from different countries around Europe, are in the respective native languages of each country, meaning movie lovers read subtitles in English to follow each film’s stories.

Tinashe Sibanda, a student from Nust, said: “The movies I’ve watched so far are Champions from Spain and I got to pick up a few Spanish words and also Portuguese words from the Os Maias movie from Portugal. Some of the places I saw in the movies made me want to visit these countries.”

The festival has been able to share some cultural insights to Zimbabweans as they got a diverse look into different European cultures through the movies.

Some went with the hopes that the films would be in 3D but were still happy to be able to watch the movies.

People who had never been inside a movie house were thankful to the EU film festival for such an opportunity to experience the cinema world.

“This is the first time I’ve been to this cinema and I like the whole experience and I thank this festival for giving me this opportunity. Now I know what people will be experiencing when they come to this cinema and in future will save up to come and watch more movies,” said Nkosilathi Zhou, a high school student.

The people who attended on the first day got to witness performances which featured Asaph, Tinashe Tafirenyika, Super Geeks, Emmanuel Nkomo and Stha Dube.

Besides watching movies, there is also a platform for discussion after the movies where people receive deep insight about themes that each movie is based on.

As part of the festival, a Masterclass is being held at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo where filmmakers and those interested are getting tips on movie making from Isaac Shumba.

Meanwhile, there will be three movies showing today namely A Ciambre from Italy followed by It must schwing – The Blue Note Story from Germany and at 8PM, there’s Yardie from the UK. 

Tomorrow Manyatha Short Films from Kenya will kickstart the day followed by The King of Belgians from Belgium, The Conductor from Netherlands and closing off the festival is Farewell to Europe from Austria. – @waynecas