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Showbiz Correspondent 

Savannah Skies, a film which was produced by Zimbabweans, has been nominated for the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs).

Through the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Academy, Bulawayo-born Nobert Mapfoche produced the film – an African love story — that was directed by another Zimbabwean, Rutendo Mahofa. 

The production which was shot in Zambia, where the two were trained together between 2018 and 2019 with other East, South and West African creatives, and shown on the Zambezi Magic channel, has been nominated in a new AMVCA category, the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Award.

The film is up against Life of Bim and Dream Chaser (both from West Africa), Ensulo and Promises (both from East Africa) and The Painting (from Southern Africa).

The AMVCAs which are now in their seventh edition will be screened live on all Africa Magic channels at 5PM this Saturday.

Organisers of the awards said the new category was named in honour of the MultiChoice Africa initiative to enhance film-making talent across Africa.

Liz Dziva, publicity and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe said the new category was introduced to reward excellence in storytelling and provide a recognition platform for graduates of the three MultiChoice Talent Factory academies in South, East and West Africa.

“The MTF initiative is a multi-faceted exercise launched in 2018 that provides valuable platforms for aspiring and existing professionals in film and television production. 

“It is already sending a significant number of young new operatives into the industry and the new AMVCAs category further encourages them by giving recognition to excellence in their finished productions,” Dziva said.

She added that the films in the new category were all produced by students of the MTF class of 2018-19, which produced 20 graduates. 

An excited Mapfoche who has set up his own film production company in Bulawayo said the AMVCA nomination showed that the MTF initiative was bearing fruit. 

“The academy is a place where we got trained to work as industry professionals and this nomination shows that there’re a lot of creatives in Zimbabwe whose potential simply needs to be harnessed.

“African Cinema is going to the next level and we now need to help up-and-coming creatives to tell the African stories to people,” said Mapfoche. 

This year’s AMVCAs have 28 categories, seven of which are open to public voting and 21 of which — including the MultiChoice Talent Factory Award — will be decided by the panel of judges. 

Since its inception in 2013 the AMVCAs have celebrated African filmmakers, actors and industry specialists in the continued growth of the continent’s film and television industry.