8 days to departure

I leave for Zimbabwe a week from tomorrow! Tonight I had a Shona lesson with my friend, Zivanai. I’ve been trying to learn some basics of the language. although I don’t expect to be very conversational in such a short amount of time! Ndinoda kuramba uchi taura Shona.

Not much to report about film preps, other than that I’m constantly thinking of film styles, possible shots, story lines, etc. I feel that in a situation like this, I’m primarily there to observe and capture moments in time, allowing the story to tell itself, in a way. But I have to be ever conscious of what story is being told, by whom, and how the audience is going to receive the information that is presented.  As an American, I know that I’ll see things in a particular way. But our Zimbabwean crew will be there to keep the perceptions balanced. As a condition of the grant, this is to be an indigenous story, and I hope to truly honor that as I assume an almost mentor role for the filmmaking “students” as we work together.