Gonarezhou (Film)
Gonarezhou The Movie is a 2020 Zimbabwean anti-poaching awareness film written and directed by Sydney Taivavashe. The film is produced in conjunction with the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority.
Premise
The film is about a young man called Zulu who suffers various misfortunes and joins a poaching gang. It is a rags to riches crime story of one man rising from poverty into one of the most wanted poachers in Zimbabwe.[1]
Cast
Gonarezhou boasts of an all-star cast which includes singer Tamy Moyo, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s daughter Tariro Mnangagwa, Eddie Sandifolo, Tendaiishe (Tendai) Chitima, Tinashe Nhukarume, Charles Mzemba, Jackson Chavhanga, Courage Murambadare and Tawanda Mazvanya. The film tracks the life of Zulu, an honourable rural man, for who survival is a constant battle living in a village with a large animal population.[2]
- Tariro Washe as Sergeant Onai.
- Tamy Moyo as Sara.
- Eddie Sandifolo as Zulu.
- Tariro Mnangagwa
- Tendaiishe (Tendai) Chitima
- Tinashe Nhukarume
- Charles Mzemba
- Jackson Chavhanga
- Courage Murambadare
- Tawanda Madzvanya
Release
The film was released in February 2020 at The Pan African Film Festival in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Gonarezhou was shown at the 2020 Pan African Film Festival.
Production
In 2017, Sydney announced that he was working on a feature film about poaching and that he started developing the script since 2013. The story was inspired by the killings of 300 elephants by poachers using cyanide in 2013. Principal Photography started in November of 2018.
Directed by Sydney Taivavashe, Gonarezhou was produced with assistance from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority. Taivavashe also made the shortlist in the Best Director category, as he was chosen as the cream of the crop in a field that had over 250 directors from all over the African diaspora.
Awards
The anti-poaching film Gonarezhou has proved its mettle in Hollywood, where it come out tops in the Best First Feature Narrative category at this year’s edition of the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) held in Los Angeles, USA.
