HARARE – Four producers of a new film, Lord of Kush, were arraigned before a Harare magistrate on Monday and charged for screening the film without the approval of government censors.
Film maker Daves Guzha, who runs Theatre in the Park, was jointly charged with film producer Tendai Maduwa, script writer Kudakwashe Brian Bwititi, and Theatre in the Park manager Peter Churu.
They were freed on ZW$200 bail by Harare magistrate Babra Mateko.
Prosecutor Sebastian Mutizirwa alleged the film is likely to cause conflict among religious groups, particularly between Christians and Muslims.
“On July 3, Maduwa advertised the launch of the film in a local publication without applying for a certificate from the Censorship and Entertainment Control Unit,” said the prosecutor.
“Police investigations established that the contents of the film were undesirable as they depicted the abduction of a Zimbabwean ambassador to Pakistan’s child by a certain religious group.
“It was also established that if launched and shown to the world, it would invoke conflicts among religious groups particularly the Christians and Muslims.”
Mutizirwa said on July 27 and at Theatre in the Park, in the Harare Gardens, Bwititi and Guzha allegedly approved the film’s launch and publicly exhibited it without approval by the censors.
The four were arrested on the same day.
Maduwa, speaking early this month, said the film was inspired by true events.
“I was in Pakistan years ago and there was a school (Peshawar) that was bombed by terrorists leading to the death of innocent children,” he said. “This incident motivated me to pen this film. The movie tackles issues to do with peace, tolerance and just living together as a people regardless of religious, political, racial or tribal differences.”
In the movie, a retired professor and diplomat imposes Christianity on Islamic kids triggering reactions that led to the bombings and other events that later unfolded.
