CHIKWAMA, a short film written by the NAMA award winning poet and storyteller Kuda Rice, has been named on the shortlist for the 2025 CANEX Shorts, one of the African continent’s premier short film competitions.
The Kuda Rice and Takudzwa Ishmael Mboma production earns itself a slice of history, as this is the first time a Zimbabwean film has been selected for the showcase.
Directed by filmmaker Takudzwa Ishmael Mboma, CHIKWAMA is a two minute long visual piece that utilises the rhythm of poetry in telling a human story. Set in a futuristic world, CHIKWAMA follows the gentle unfolding of an encounter between two strangers who live in the same apartment block.
The film stars Ebbernezer Muchuwa alongside Kuda Rice in a story that captures how small acts of kindness can shift the course of human connection.
The film will be screened at the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme during the Intra African Trade Fair (IATF) Summit, which is set to be be held in Algiers, Algeria, from 4 to 10 September 2025.
The CANEX Shorts screenings will be open to the public in Algiers, and global audiences online.
