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Veteran filmmaker Shemu Joyah continues to shine in the film industry in the country as his movie The Road to Sunrise has scooped four awards at the Shungu Namutitima International Film Festival in Zambia.
The festival started on July 26 and ended on August 3 2019 at Livingstone in Zambia.
The film’s success comes barely a year after The Road to Sunrise triumphed in the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards (AMVCAs) collecting the Best Movie –Southern Africa Award.
This is Joyah’s third film after Seasons of Life and The Last Fishing Boat and was released in 2017.
The film which was also entered for the Oscars 2019 but failed to win an award, last year received seven nominations in the Africa Movie Academy Awards (Amaa).
Joyah’s FirstDawn Arts says in a statement that the film has scooped four awards namely Best Actress (Mirriam Phiri), Best Director (Shemu Joyah), Best Cinematography and Best Picture.
The press statement, however, says Joyah did not travel to the festival due to other engagements.
Joyah said yesterday he was excited that the film, which delves into the story of two prostitutes, who search for the road to redemption, had won four awards.
“It gives me a great feeling to win the awards. We are trying to build a film industry in Malawi and perhaps not in the most favourable conditions,” he said.
Joyah said, when such things happen, they validate their efforts.
“This means that slowly the Malawi film industry is getting recognised,” the filmmaker said.
He said now they need the business community to start looking at investing in film production as a potential business.
“This is by way of product placement, co-productions and also assisting as social responsibility. A blossoming film industry would improve the economic environment,” Joyah said.
Joyah’s film participated at the festival with two other Malawian movies–Submerged and Nyasaland produced by Brenda Mselu and Joyce Mhango Chavula.
“For me, I haven’t heard anything but I am sure we have not gotten anything. We will try next year and I just want to congratulate Shemu Joyah for scooping the four awards,” Mselu said yesterday.
Mhango Chavula also said she had not received any communication from the organisers.
