Short Summary
“Nzara:Hunger” was originally written as a play and performed in Zimbabwe. The story is about the mystical and spiritual traditions of great Zimbabwe as well as the conflict that arises with the growth of the Rozvi Empire. The play was later banned after its initial performance because of its deeply impactful story and controversial inquiry into the spiritual and political narratives in Zimbabwe. "Nzara:Hunger” is a ceremony play because it addresses uncomfortable feelings about social issues and then, through beautiful narrative, music and storytelling, resolves them in catharsis! “Nzara:Hunger” is an untold legend with cross-cultural impact, and its eerie and mystical beauty instills in the viewer a sense of profound purpose.
The writer and director Klara Wojtkowska is a musician, writer, performer, teacher and healer. She holds degrees in African studies, violin performance and literature, and she has traveled the world researching migration and performance as a Thomas J. Watson fellow. Wojtkowska has initiated and learned healing and ceremony practices across North and South America, Africa (Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso) and Poland. She is the author of two books, “Wild Medicine: a Journey to Zimbabwe" and “Będziemy się za was modlić: z Polski do Zimbabwe ścieżkami Przodków” (Polish) and is the composer and creator of the Polish-Zimbabwean double-album “BANGIZA 1“ and “BANGIZA 2”.
Wojtkowska’s work as an artist captures the essence of a multicultural and global perspective and works to bring important social issues into perspective through the art of story telling. “Nzara:Hunger,” the animated play, is her most recent project and one that includes artists from Zimbabwe, Poland and the U.S.
Our Goal
Despite the controversy which banned “Nzara:Hunger” in Zimbabwe, the play was awarded the Ant Mobility Fund grant to bring the original play to the stage. Due the COVID-19 pandemic, the creators decided to make an animated film as way to continue the project and include artists remotely. Unfortunately the original grant funds don’t cover all the necessary production costs of an animated film. We hope to raise $10,000 to cover the cost of bringing together the performance artists, animators and musicians from across continents for this unique production.
The Impact
Your contribution will support artists as they work to create a story that has the potential to inspire people around the world to look for the good in all people and to focus on our collective healing as a global community. “Nzara:Hunger” addresses the divide between the natural and artificial world as well as grapples with the social issues of greed and misogyny as well as gives a critical inquiry into empirical rule. With your support, we hope to bring important conversations to your home about coming together as one humanity. Through beautiful animation, soundscapes and story telling, “Nzara:Hunger” the movie will be a captivating and inspiring journey that we hope you will share with us.
Risks & Challenges
The Ant Mobility Fund grant requires the project to be completed by December of this year, so we have a very limited amount of time to bring together all the creative components of an animated film. We want this project to be able to accurately represent the brilliant work of Klara Wojtkowska as created in the original play, but the cost of animating and recording quality sound both in Poland and in Zimbabwe is expensive.
We hope to create a concept piece by December that will be expanded into a full-feature film. Our greatest challenge is creating high quality media regardless of our cross continental artistic crew. As the project currently stands, we simply do not have access to the same production quality equipment in our varies global locations, so with the help of this campaign we intend to upgrade our methods for collaboration as well as fund artist so they can focus on creating high quality media.
Other Ways You Can Help
Please share our campaign to social media as well as follow us at NzaratheMovie of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
Please contact us if you are interested in volunteer opportunities.
Thank you!
