Local movie nominated for international award
A local movie, All We Have Is Us by Ashukile Mwakisulu has been nominated in the best feature Southern Africa category at this year’s Sotambe Film Festival.
In an interview, Mwakisulu said they are excited with the nomination as it will present an opportunity for exposure and networking for the producers and actors.
“Film festivals are great platforms for marketing, exposure and networking. For me personally, this is a great honour and of course for the local movie industry as a whole,” he said.
Mwakisulu said at the moment, he is yet to be advised if the nomination will need fans to vote for the film to claim the award or not.
“We are yet to be advised on the modalities of choosing the winner. At the moment, we are nominated and we are excited,” said the movie maker.
Mwakisulu said the movie is yet to hit the market and they are doing all they can to get it out there through established platforms and televisions stations.
“We have been planning for sometime on how best we can get it out there and get maximum exposure plus the much-needed returns,” he said.
All We Have Is Us is not Mwakisulu’s first production, having first produced the television series Choices. He is also a seasoned actor, having appeared in a number of movies, including Shemu Joya’s The Last Fishing Boat.
Commenting on the development, movie fans flooded the actor’s Facebook page to congratulate him.
Wrote Everson Suliani: “This is the way to go. All the best comrade.”
Grant Chirwa wrote: “We have talent in Malawi. Go and represent us brother.”
This is Malawi’s second time to have a local movie nominated at Sotambe Film Festival which is based in Zambia. Last year, movie director Gift Sukali won the Best Director Award at the same festival for his role in the movie Fatsani.
Sotambe International Film and Arts Festival was established in 2014 on the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. In a local language the word Sotambe means “come and watch”.
According to its website, filmfreeway.com, apart from the festival and awards, the institution also holds film workshops and trainings for all film and movie players.
