Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
BEFORE there was a television set in every household, older Zimbabweans would remember a time when bioscopes or ibhayiskopo as locals referred to it, were the only source of cinema for people in high density suburbs.
Times have changed since then, and a TV set sits squarely in almost every living room and while a house without a satellite dish perched on top of it is now a rarity.
While to some this is a sign of progress, it also points to the fact that most of the content that Zimbabweans are viewing is not made locally. In fact, most of the movies Zimbabweans watch are made from the big budget studios in Hollywood. Few of the blockbuster movies speak to the realities of the millions of Africans that watch them.
This is where Sunshine Cinemas, a solar-powered cinema network, comes in. Using a Land Rover truck that doubled as both their home on the road and a fully fledged cinema, Cape Town-based filmmakers Rowan Pybus and Sydelle Willow Smith of Makhulu Production have brought back the long-forgotten bioscope with a modern twist. Since their production company was founded seven years ago, they have been travelling the length and breadth of Southern Africa, bringing uniquely African content to audiences in isolated parts of the region.
“We installed a four-kilowatt home solar inverter onto what was a bench. We took the bench out and put the inverter in. We put really big battery cells, six in total, which allow us to have a cinema which can play loudly and clearly to about 300 or 400 people. For most of our screenings we average perhaps 150 people per sitting. The idea was to make sure that people were watching African made documentaries and feature films in very hard to reach places that were cinema deprived,” Pybus told Sunday Life.
While their intention is to spread the glory of African made films, Sunshine Cinemas also want to educate people, usually in Sub-Saharan areas most affected by climate change, about make more environmentally friendly choices.
“We also want to let them know that solar also means sovereignty or freedom. If you have a solar light for example you can do your homework in a rural area. I grew up with no electricity for example and I would have preferred to have things like that. A lot of people come to the cinema for the movies but if they also learn more towards a renewable energy direction it’s a win for us,” he said.
Their elaborately designed truck, with a solar roof that pops out when its time to showcase a movie, never fails to get attention.
“You get two things from this truck. First you get solar power at a better angle and two you get a bedroom. The car has a beautiful bed in it, which is better than my home. We wanted to have screenings where cinema had never been before so we often went to places with no accommodation. We sleep in the back gardens of people who invite us, we sleep on the side of the road or wherever we have been invited to do a screening. The vehicle enables us to do that,” said Pybus.
The two have since invented the sun box, a miniature version of their car which will be operated by two of their trainees each in Bulawayo and Gweru.
“The sun box came in when we realised that we didn’t want to appear as if we were coming in, doing a dance then leaving. We wanted to ensure that cinema audiences grow. With the sun box you have a lasting impact in terms of training, mobilising and community in a way that is not a circus because the car is a bit of a circus. It’s a nice thing and it’s fun but it attracts attention,” he said.
Sunshine had their debut screening Bulawayo on Friday evening at the Bulawayo Art Gallery where they showcased Malawian flick, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.