By Milcah Time Mathias
Blantyre, 6th November, Mana: A multi award winner of Seasons of a Life, the Last Fishing Boat and the Road to Sunrise, producer and director, Charles Shemu Joyah is set to release a 14 minutes’ short film on iPlus Play on November, 9, 2024 of a story about Rev. John Chilembwe titled; Strike a Blow and Die.
Joyah told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that the short film, is about John Chilembwe, a historical story in Malawi and Africa as a whole, adding that Chilembwe was an exceptional person who was courageous enough to fight against oppression in Malawi and Africa.
He observed that Chilembwe, the hero is not given enough credit such that people have very little understanding of his life and achievements, saying there is also a lot of ignorance to his life story to the extent that some say his uprising against the British colonial rule was a bad call for the development of Malawi.
“I think when we are just looking at the narrow part of Chilembwe’s story, we are being unfair to his legacy. He helped a lot of Malawians through his development works. As most Malawians lack a culture of reading, then visuals would help people understand him better,
“This is why I felt that producing this film would help people understand better about life of Chilembwe,” said the multi award winning artist.
He said Strike a Blow and Die is a burning story that will educate, entertain and inform Malawians and movie lovers of the better part of Chilembwe,
He therefore called on Malawians to see John Chilembwe as a hero and liberator who stood strong against colonial oppression and exploitation, saying he was also an advocator for hard work spirit as opposed to over dependence on external support.
“I think the film industry in Malawi can help a lot in the development aspect. I was in Nigeria last week, and you will be surprised that the film industry in Nigeria is the second largest employer after government,
“So if we are going to improve our film industry and encourage creativity, we can train our young graduates who can even create films and upload them on YouTube and generate money in an era where content creation is important,” added Joyah.
Joyah further observed that Malawi has few theatres specifically meant for cinema such that these are expensive to premier a 14 minutes Strike a Blow and Die.
“We thought the best option is to put it on an online platform where people will pay about K1, 000 and watch as much as they like. That is a better way at the moment but when we are going to produce another film for 1 hour or 2 hours we will justify going to the theatre,
“In 2007, I started researching on how to produce John Chilembwe’s film. I started writing proposals to people who could fund me on this project, but there was no funding. However, l knew that these people might not have a picture of what the movie will be like. This also happens even in America or Britain when one has an idea but doesn’t have funds, one just produces some scenes for people to appreciate of what one is talking about,” he added
Joyah said an idea for a short film came so that people should appreciate that he also has the ability to do something bigger that this, adding that this will not be the end of the story.
“This is just a promo that will help us to raise funds to produce a full movie and be able to use it on a big market,” he added.
Malawian renowned writer and social media influencer, Stanley Onjezani Kenani, on his Facebook page said that John Chilembwe is about to come alive on the screen.
“There are a few times in my life I have met someone as determined and focused as Mr. Charles Shemu Joyah. Twenty years ago, whenever he gave me a lift from Lilongwe to Blantyre, we would spend almost the entire journey talking about his dream to shoot a John Chilembwe movie,
“He employed a young graduate to undertake comprehensive research on the martyr, from the year of his birth to the day he was martyred for standing up for what is right,” added Kenani.
Produced by Joyah and Gift Sukez Sukali, the short film is about the life and death of John Chilembwe.
The short film was nominated in the Best Short Film category at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, AMAA 2024.
Strike a Blow and Die features; Abdul Latif Sani as young Morrison Chimpele, Valentino Molosen as soldier, Brian Chalamanda as young John Chilembwe, Ed Phillips as Captain Schlater and Robert Loughlin as Alfred Sharpe.
