Most people know 45-year-old Lazarus Boora as Gringo, a small-screen character from 1990s television.<\/p>\n
Gringo, the titular character of one of Zimbabwe\u2019s popular comedy series, was good at two things: landscaping and playing pranks on the people who hired him. Boora played Gringo\u2019s character for the duration of the show\u2019s run.<\/p>\n
In between seasons, he made appearances in films and drama series such as Chihwerure and Yellow Card.
\nOne of the perks of being an actor in that era was that the pay was stellar, Boora says.<\/p>\n
\u201cLong back, l managed to build my rural house and take care of my family through the acting career,\u201d recalls the father of six.
\nNot anymore. Acting gigs don\u2019t come often these days, and when they do, the compensation is not much, he explains.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe is in a deep economic crisis, and the film and television industry has taken a heavy hit. The industry\u2019s household names are no longer earning as much as they used to. Now, they say they have no choice but to turn to odd jobs to survive or rely on others for support.<\/p>\n
Boora, like some of the country\u2019s well-known actors and actresses, garnered acclaim in the second decade of independence. In the first decade, the government made keen efforts to develop the local film industry, notes Nyasha Mboti of the University of Johannesburg in his 2014 study on film in post-colonial Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
The government also convinced Hollywood filmmakers and entertainers to come and work in Zimbabwe. In 1985, five years after the southern African nation gained independence, the now-defunct Hollywood company Cannon Films shot \u201cKing Solomon\u2019s Mines\u201d in Zimbabwe. The action-packed movie follows an American adventurer on his quest to find a hidden treasure.<\/p>\n
The movie, budgeted at $7 million, had a gross return of about $80 million. It also featured local actors, according to a 1992 article in the Journal of Popular Film and Television by Kedmon Hungwe, a Zimbabwean film expert.<\/p>\n
The government also struck up a partnership with US motion picture production Giant Universal Pictures. The company was responsible for producing the 1987 feature film \u201cCry Freedom,\u201d and the government put forward $5,5 million to make it happen.
\nBut authorities said there was no significant return on that investment and scaled back on funding feature film productions. That\u2019s when it started to become difficult to find work in the industry.<\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s even harder to land a job as an actor, says Ben Mahaka, a film producer and actor. Cash shortages, high prices and recent monetary reforms have all contributed to this challenge in some way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tough economic climate has meant that budgets had to be cut for most [film] projects,\u201d Mahaka explains. \u201cMany cinemas have been turned into church venues and piracy is rampant, so filmmakers struggle to get a return on their investment.\u201d
\nMinimal return means that those starring in productions don\u2019t get much money, he says.
\nRhoda Mtembe, who decades ago played Mai Sorobhi on the drama series Paraffin, says that\u2019s why she\u2019s left acting behind.<\/p>\n
\u201c(In) those days, l could actually get a lot of money and look after my family,\u201d she says. \u201cOur producer at that time never wanted us to suffer and l managed to buy property and my house.\u201d
\nMtembe went from being the breadwinner of her family to relying on close relatives to survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs of now, my survival is a struggle and the economy is bad,\u201d Mtembe says. \u201cPeople are shocked to see me and what l have become, considering what l was in the past.\u201d
\nSteven Mtembe, her son, says he is proud of all that she\u2019s achieved. But it\u2019s been difficult to watch her first love \u2013 acting \u2013 slip away from her.
\n\u201cOver the years, we have seen her career shift as she did less and less acting jobs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Boora too, has put acting on the back burner. Now, he earns a living as a master of ceremonies. Some months, he\u2019s hired for two or three events, he says. Other months are less busy.
\nBoora\u2019s dilemma is not unique to Zimbabwe\u2019s veteran actors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many good actors who have abandoned acting and are working in professions that they do not like because acting in Zimbabwe is synonymous with poverty \u2013 very visible poverty,\u201d Mahaka says.
\nReviving the industry requires empathy from local film and TV producers, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause acting roles are few and far between, actors\u2019 fees should take into account the sporadic nature of their employment,\u201d he says.
\nMujuru, GPJ, translated some interviews from Shona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most people know 45-year-old Lazarus Boora as Gringo, a small-screen character from 1990s television. Gringo, the titular character of one of Zimbabwe\u2019s popular comedy series, was good at two things: landscaping and playing pranks on the people who hired him. Boora played Gringo\u2019s character for the duration of the show\u2019s run. In between seasons, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[452,83,524,357],"class_list":{"0":"post-6236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-economy","9":"tag-cinema","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-filmmakers","12":"tag-university"},"yoast_head":"\n