At an ongoing ZBC stakeholder engagement workshop in Harare, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Jenfan Muswere announced an allocation of $10 million (USD) for content creation as part of efforts to expand the national broadcaster’s television and radio stations.
“In broadcasting, viewership follows content. For us to succeed in creating a new and viable film industry, the foundation lies in the capacitation of the public broadcaster. I can confidently assure you all that part of the public broadcaster’s budget for 2026 includes an equivalent of US$10 million for content producers,” stated the minister.
“We cannot have all citizens of Zimbabwe contributing to the public broadcaster if we do not have Zimbabwean players, producers, musicians, and filmmakers benefiting from these funds.”
The announcement was part of of a broader discussion on the framework on content creators and the broadcasting ecosystem. As things stand plans are underway for pre-budget seminars aimed at establishing content hubs in all of the country’s 10 provinces, which will be utilised by filmmakers, musicians, and other stakeholders. While a Film Policy and a National Language Policy are in the pipeline.
Why is this development important?
For the last 2 decades Zimbabwe’s has not only struggled but filmmakers have been on their own. The national broadcaster has had little to no funding for film ideas, no matter how brilliant, and while film sectors in other countries have had the support of streaming services, in Zimbabwe these players are still to place their footprint.
To add to this environment of limited media players has been a banking sector that still doesn’t understand creatives, or won’t create provisions for them rather. So the end result sees filmmakers required to self fund every part of a project. Further compounding this is that once you finish your project the national broadcaster would still want it for free because of a lack of funding, and you have to hope someone specifically buts advertising time during its screening for any financial benefit to come out of it.
The local cinema’s will also not purchase the rights to screen your film but instead you would have to higher the cinema if you want to screen your project there, then hope to sell enough tickets to recoup the highering fee. This is further compounded by the fact that the capital city has gone from having 14 cinemas, to now just having 2 and that makes them prime highering space.
So filmmakers and content producers have been left with trying to navigate the festival scene and digital platforms like YouTube as their only options. This offers up a very limited chance for filmmakers to recoup their costs in a country were the majority watches ZBC. Several players have entered the space with private TV channels but the sector is still limping.
Zimbabwe’s TV and film sector is almost negligible, while across the pond South Africa’s content production industry is valued at an estimated R5. 5 billion ($800- million) a year.
So what needs to be done for the successful use of this funding?
The onus is on the National Arts Council and ZBC to work together to empower the right independent producers to deliver content. The council already has a database of 3,500 creatives (those who are not yet registered should do so as soon as they can), and it is now up to them to ensure there is no gatekeeping but equitable distribution.
The organisation has already been making strides in assisting filmmakers with an annual short film grant that was launched last year. These various initiatives will need to be aligned with Zimbabwe Film Strategy 2025–2030, and the broader policy guiding the arts sector in order to ensure the ecosystem works as a whole.
Zimbabwe has the talent in bounds, this testified to by the content they produce and Oscar winning names such Viola Davis and Ezra Edelman giving them acclaim. It is long overdue that the creatives be supported by both policy and funding.
If filmmakers and content producers can make shows like Properganda, Babamunini Nijo, The Bachelors, Manhounds, Working Wives, and films such as RISE (in contention for Oscar nomination and the first Zimbabwean film to debut at the illustrious Tribeca Film Festival) while on their own, imagine what they can do with the right infrastructure.
