Lazarus Boora left Zimbabwe with a gap in comedy. The character of Gringo, would leave the audience in great rapture howls. It was the hilarious character of a garden boy who finds himself in trouble but uses hook and crook to solve the challenge. Lazarus died on 9 November 2020 at Westview Hospital in Zimre Park, Ruwa where he was admitted, leaving an empty seat on the Gringo role.
Taurai Boora, son of Lazarus is now resuscitating the Gringo character, with a lot of humor and hilarious. Thursday Film Club showcased the latest Gringo character at Afrotopia on the 24th of February 2022. This time Gringo is in Zimbabwe’s countryside on the latest series entitled Gringo Paruzevha.
Blessing Chimhowa (Mbudziyadhura) is directing the Gringo Paruzevha and Chati Butao (Chatikobo Mupurisa Wa Sabhuku) is the Assistant Director that is already hitting 40 thousand views on Youtube.
In a discussion at the Thursday Film Club after the showcasing of the series, Boora raised the issue of disunity amongst artists as a reason why the film industry was not going so well in Zimbabwe.
“It’s not about the money, but pamwe pacho panodao ma ideas, kuti guys pane zvatiinazvo izvi ngatibudeiwo ne something vanozoita chip-in nemari dzavo vanouya tave pane chimwe chinhanho,” Boora said. (It’s not always about the money, but sometimes it’s about ideas. Let investors chip-in whilst we are doing something.)
“Let’s try all means, artists, tobatana tova nechinhu one, so that tova ne vision imwe chete. Vanozouya vachiita chip-in ve government vaona zvatiri kuita.” (Let’s try to unite by all means and have one vision as artists, so that the government chip-in)
Despite the challenges faced in the motion picture sector, Chimhowa sees the future bright with the advent of social media. The actor believes that social media and online streaming channels like Youtube provide a better chance for Zimbabwean films to grow and go international.
Thursday Film Club, a collaboration between Afrotopia and Cinema Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ) has been offering filmmakers a chance to analyze video productions thereby improving the skills of the producers.
The upcoming actor also lamented the shortage of resources, with the series being shot at zero budget.
