The world of fantasy holds much appeal for 22-year-old Lilongwe, Malawi, video editor, Chisomo Kawaga. It should come as no surprise then that the first movie she watched was Harry Potter, that her favourite movie is the critically acclaimed fantasy epic, Avatar, or that her dream role would be playing a character in the Marvel or DC Universe.
Chisomo is also a keen gamer, and holds an Advanced Diploma in System Support from the St John Paul Institute of Leadership and IT. She joins the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Academy with the goal of augmenting her filmmaking skills – a move she hopes will help inspire other emerging filmmakers who started out as she did because “they need to believe that if I did it, they can do it too”.
This is critical because, she says, young people need to see the benefit of growing their knowledge of film before embarking on projects that could backfire, drowning their love for film before it has even got off the ground.
“A lack of knowledge is probably the biggest challenge facing the African film sector, because most people just start producing content with only basic film knowledge instead of trying to find ways to really understand their medium, like by taking free online classes or watching tutorials. There’s nothing wrong with raw talent, but we need to share our knowledge and adequately train our young creatives if we are to positively grow our industry,” Chisomo says.