IN a bid to extend its influence and relations with Zimbabwe, China has also tapped into showbiz.
On March 10, the Chamber of Chinese Enterprise in Zimbabwe premiered the movie 'The Wandering Earth 2' at SK Cinema Sam Levy Village.
The Wandering Earth 2 is a 2023 Chinese science fiction adventure film directed and co-written by Frant Gwo and released in January.
The movie is a three-hour Chinese science fiction action-adventure film packed with science talk and evolutionary engineering machines. It speaks of how artificial intelligence machines will take over human jobs. On the other hand there is a group of humans that stands against a civilisation without humans.
The sci-fi movie was premiered at the same time in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique.
Speaking to Standard Style, secretary-general for the Chamber of Chinese Enterprise in Zimbabwe Wenjie Li said by bringing a Chinese movie to Zimbabwe they are trying to strengthen the Zim-China relations.
"This is the first time we are officially introducing a Chinese movie to Zimbabwe and we did this through The Chamber of Chinese Enterprise in Zimbabwe," he said.
"So in future we want to bring more Chinese movies to the country as part of cultural exchange between China and Zimbabwe and we want more people to watch Chinese movies and understand Chinese culture.”
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Wanjie added that next they would be taking the movie to Zambia and were planning to take more movies to more countries in Africa through their partnerships.
Interacting with the people who attended the movie, most patrons hailed the production.
"I am not a science-fiction person but from what I saw, my understanding was that there were different countries which came together to try and save the earth. So the movie prioritises the theme of global Unity in fighting the threats that planet earth is facing," said Lucia Saizi.
"I like fiction yes, but beyond the fiction I found myself focusing on the emotional side of the movie when families were separated and some had to even sacrifice their lives to save the earth, which was very touching," said Tariro Matema.
China has been partnering with Zimbabwe on many national development projects such as drilling of boreholes, construction of the new Parliament building, expansion of Hwange Power Station and engineering works at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
China has even partnered with the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe to host the National Arts Merit Awards.
