WHEN Marvellous Matswimbo was a little girl, she longed to know the answer to how did people make themselves small enough to get inside the television screen?
About 20 years later, she finally got the answer, but not from reading about this or even watching a video online explaining it.
Rather, from the time spent on the set of three of southern Africa’s biggest TV productions.
Not only does Matswimbo now know how the people get into the TV, but also how to organise those people and the rest of their cast and crew to make that magic happen. She learnt all this during the past 11 months as a student of the Southern Africa MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Academy.
Matswimbo was one of 19 students who entered the Academy in January and has just graduated with flying colours. The MTF Southern Africa academy class graduated on November 17 2023, after a 12-month intensive programme inclusive of practical and in-class theoretical curriculum accredited by the University of Zambia.
The graduation celebrated the talent and hard work of the only 19 students from seven southern African countries, who put in many hours of honing their skills and expanding their knowledge and networks in the industry.
There were two students from Zimbabwe, including Matswimbo. So far, eight Zimbabwean students have been trained at the MultiChoice Talent Factory in Lusaka, Zambia.
At the recent graduation, Matswimbo was one of the only three students to receive an award for outstanding work this year: A two-week production internship on three professional film sets in South Africa.
- Visual artist finds niche market in tattoos
- Rising divorce cases mirror a broken society
- Nakamba continues to impress
- WeCan Creatives comes to Gweru
Keep Reading
Although she spent the past four years studying journalism and media studies at the National University of Science and Technology, Matswimbo had no formal training in film. But her enthusiasm for TV and film during her interview landed her a spot at the academy.
“I think the MTF team saw my passion for wanting to learn more. I really had no idea of the scope of filmmaking when I applied, I just knew that I loved films and wanted to know more,” she said.
“Once I heard I would get in, I was a little scared, I was going to be meeting people from so many different countries and I was worried I might not fit in because everyone else would know more than me.
“But I was so excited to see what the programme was going to teach me, so I just went along with that and it all worked out perfectly.”
The academy’s training programme is very intensive, as it aims to upskill and develop the next generation of African storytellers. Students learn both theoretical and practical concepts in a hands-on environment with renowned industry experts from across Africa and abroad.
Part of the training includes spending time on the sets of several industry leading MultiChoice productions, such as Zuba, Mpali and 10 Tamanga Street.
These immersions demonstrate to the students both the skills they need to perform various roles on a professional film set as well as the emotional aptitude they need to cut it in this industry.
“The immersions were definitely the highlight of the year for me. That was the first time I was on a professional set and I got to see exactly how things are done. I was blown away by how much people were willing to teach us,” she noted.
“We had been learning the theoretical side of filmmaking, but being on set brought that to life. You get to see how professional people do what they do, everyday. You also get to see how busy it can get on a set…and how stressful.”
Surprisingly, she thrived on the stress and found that this made her the perfect candidate for the role of assistant director.
“I loved the stress and heightened feeling of excitement. That got me interested in assistant directing. I saw the stress that assistant directors were under and everything they had to do, and realised I was up for that challenge,” she recalled.
“So when we got back to school, I pursued assistant director roles on the two films we produced. I really fell in love with that.”
On a film set, the assistant director is responsible for arranging all logistics, preparing the daily call sheets and ensuring the cast and crew fulfil their respective roles.
The assistant director also ensures that filming stays on track with the production schedule.
Matswimbo says although she did not realise it before, her MTF experience revealed the perfect skills within her to tackle this demanding role.
“This experience showed me that I am actually a good communicator. I think that, combined with my inherent ability to work with people, makes me a good fit for this position. I get on with different people easily and it doesn’t take me long to understand what makes different people tick,” she said.
“As an assistant director, you have to understand people and know when and how to push them to achieve the goal you are all working towards,” she added.
This gave Matswimbo the confidence to embrace the role and going forward she will be pursuing a professional career as an assistant film director.
Based on her exceptional achievements at MTF, the determined 24-year-old has already been offered a position to work on a local talk show in January ahead of her visit to South Africa for her production internship.
Zimbabwe has a bright new star on the film horizon, and it’s only a matter of time before we see Marvellous’ own name “inside the TV screen”, echoing a childhood inspiration which sparked an incredible journey.
